A decision to pull scheduled screenings of the movie “American Sniper” at the University of Maryland is causing controversy on campus and on social media.
The group Student Entertainment Events (SEE) announced its decision Wednesday. On its website, SEE wrote it had decided to “postpone” screenings scheduled for May 6 and 7 “after meeting with concerned student organizations.”
The day before SEE’s announcement, UMD’s Muslim Students Association started an online petition against the film, writing that “it only serves to fuel hatred, promote Islamophobia, and discriminate against Muslim individuals.”
“American Sniper” was directed by Clint Eastwood, and it was the highest-grossing film in the United States in 2014, per IMDB.com. It was also nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards.
While many praised it as a patriotic look at a soldier’s sacrifice for his country, others criticized it as anti-Muslim.
The decision not to screen the film as planned came less than two weeks after SEE had posted online that it would screen the film. That post, dated April 9, was in response to “social media reactions” about the decision to show the film.
Then, SEE reversed its decision in Wednesday’s post.
Reaction from students with whom ABC7 spoke on Thursday night was mixed.
“That’s kind of going against all the values of this school, and free speech,” said UMD senior Grant Honecker. “That movie makes you hate war, and it shows the sacrifices Chris Kyle made for this country, and I really think it should be shown here—just to create that dialogue.”
“I enjoyed the movie, personally,” said sophomore Justin Edelman. “But then I realized—I started to put myself in the shoes of these student groups and, considering it from their perspective, I kind of understand where they’re coming from.”
On Facebook, the Muslim Students Association wrote a post praising the decision by SEE. Part of it read: “We sincerely appreciate your commitment to exercising your freedom of speech to create an inclusive, just, and safe campus community.”
The post received a lot of backlash, some of which is being called “anti-Muslim hate” by the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Many responses to the post included profanity or statements such as “no wonder Americans despise Muslims.”
Others were more polite. One person wrote: “Please explain how banning a movie from campus is ‘exercising your freedom of speech.’”
Another wrote: “If you actually watched the movie, you would learn that your preconceptions about it being Islamophobic are not true ... If you truly want to have an open dialog on these issues, then let the movie be shown and discuss the issues raised in it.”
A minority of the posts praised the decision. One person wrote: “Thank you SEE for being courageous against the bigotry and Islamophobia of American Sniper. We would never tolerate a movie celebrating anti-Semetic (sic) behavior, and this is no different.”
The University of Maryland said in a statement it “was not involved in the decision to postpone or cancel the showing of American Sniper.” The university said instead it was the decision of SEE, “a student-led organization comprised of undergraduate students who work alongside advisors.”