Politicians, bloggers and social-media users bemoan ‘typical action
movie all about American heroism’ that paints locals as ‘fanatical and
ignorant’
Under fire ... 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi director Michael Bay.
Photograph: Jason LaVeris
Furious Libyans have criticised a Michael Bay movie about the fatal 2012 attack on the US embassy in Benghazi for playing up the heroism of American soldiers and ignoring the contribution of local people.
The first trailer for Bay’s action thriller 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi has caused uproar in Libya’s second-largest city after it was circulated on social media, with government officials, bloggers and Facebook users lining up to criticise the film.
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi – trailer
Due for release on 15 January in the US, Bay’s film is the story of a six-man US security team who fought to defend the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi following an attack by radical Islamist terrorists on September 11 2012. The incursion led to the high-profile death of the US ambassador to Libya, J Christopher Stevens, the first of his rank to die in the line of duty since 1979, in the city where the uprising against dictator Muammar Gaddafi had begun in February 2011 .
The trailer shows the team battling to save “36 American lives” in the face of gun-toting insurgents on the streets of Benghazi (though the film was in fact shot in Malta), against a backdrop of exploding vehicles and flaming buildings. But, Libya’s culture and information minister Omar Gawaari told the Associated Press, the movie shows the US contractors “who actually failed to secure the ambassador ... as heroes”, adding that Bay “turned America’s failure to protect its own citizens in a fragile state into a typical action movie all about American heroism”. A spokesperson for Libya’s foreign ministry, Salah Belnaba, complained the film portrayed the people of Benghazi as “fanatical and ignorant” when most residents were in fact keen to be part of the international community.
A Facebook post by Benghazi resident Mohamed Kawiri calling for a boycott of Bay’s “cheap” film has been shared hundreds of times. “We will not allow the American media to destroy our reputation,” wrote Kawiri. Adding: “It was the Benghazi locals who fought the militias.” He claimed he had himself helped to carry Stevens from the burning compound and said thousands of protesters took to the streets following the terrorist attack to denounce the killings of the ambassador and US foreign service information-management officer Sean Smith.
The US release of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, which stars John Krasinski, James Badge Dale, Max Martini, Toby Stephens and Pablo Schreiber, has also been caught up in controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s current US presidential run. Clinton, who was US secretary of state at the time of the Benghazi attack, has been accused by Republicans of using a private email account to conduct government business during the period. The January release of Bay’s film, two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, constitutes poor timing in terms of the former first lady’s campaign – especially if Bay’s film proves a big hit at the box office. The Transformers director will be hoping to echo the success of Clint Eastwood’s patriotic (and equally controversial) American Sniper, the highest-grossing film of 2014 in the US.
The political furore has not gone unnoticed by Libyan bloggers. “It seems that this entire movie boils down to the spoiled bickering of Americans as they grapple for power, using the murder of a good man to gain political leverage over one another. Not unlike Libyan politicians, then,” wrote the anonymous writer of the Libyan blog Journal of a Revolution. “Between all this, a beautiful city, my city, is reduced to so much hyperbole in a debate that lost relevance long ago.”
Source : http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/22/michael-bay-13-hours-the-secret-soldiers-of-benghazi-libyan-politicians-bloggers-criticism-social-media
Note : If there any complain from author about the post then the post will be remove.
Furious Libyans have criticised a Michael Bay movie about the fatal 2012 attack on the US embassy in Benghazi for playing up the heroism of American soldiers and ignoring the contribution of local people.
The first trailer for Bay’s action thriller 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi has caused uproar in Libya’s second-largest city after it was circulated on social media, with government officials, bloggers and Facebook users lining up to criticise the film.
Due for release on 15 January in the US, Bay’s film is the story of a six-man US security team who fought to defend the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi following an attack by radical Islamist terrorists on September 11 2012. The incursion led to the high-profile death of the US ambassador to Libya, J Christopher Stevens, the first of his rank to die in the line of duty since 1979, in the city where the uprising against dictator Muammar Gaddafi had begun in February 2011 .
The trailer shows the team battling to save “36 American lives” in the face of gun-toting insurgents on the streets of Benghazi (though the film was in fact shot in Malta), against a backdrop of exploding vehicles and flaming buildings. But, Libya’s culture and information minister Omar Gawaari told the Associated Press, the movie shows the US contractors “who actually failed to secure the ambassador ... as heroes”, adding that Bay “turned America’s failure to protect its own citizens in a fragile state into a typical action movie all about American heroism”. A spokesperson for Libya’s foreign ministry, Salah Belnaba, complained the film portrayed the people of Benghazi as “fanatical and ignorant” when most residents were in fact keen to be part of the international community.
A Facebook post by Benghazi resident Mohamed Kawiri calling for a boycott of Bay’s “cheap” film has been shared hundreds of times. “We will not allow the American media to destroy our reputation,” wrote Kawiri. Adding: “It was the Benghazi locals who fought the militias.” He claimed he had himself helped to carry Stevens from the burning compound and said thousands of protesters took to the streets following the terrorist attack to denounce the killings of the ambassador and US foreign service information-management officer Sean Smith.
The US release of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, which stars John Krasinski, James Badge Dale, Max Martini, Toby Stephens and Pablo Schreiber, has also been caught up in controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s current US presidential run. Clinton, who was US secretary of state at the time of the Benghazi attack, has been accused by Republicans of using a private email account to conduct government business during the period. The January release of Bay’s film, two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, constitutes poor timing in terms of the former first lady’s campaign – especially if Bay’s film proves a big hit at the box office. The Transformers director will be hoping to echo the success of Clint Eastwood’s patriotic (and equally controversial) American Sniper, the highest-grossing film of 2014 in the US.
The political furore has not gone unnoticed by Libyan bloggers. “It seems that this entire movie boils down to the spoiled bickering of Americans as they grapple for power, using the murder of a good man to gain political leverage over one another. Not unlike Libyan politicians, then,” wrote the anonymous writer of the Libyan blog Journal of a Revolution. “Between all this, a beautiful city, my city, is reduced to so much hyperbole in a debate that lost relevance long ago.”
Source : http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/22/michael-bay-13-hours-the-secret-soldiers-of-benghazi-libyan-politicians-bloggers-criticism-social-media
Note : If there any complain from author about the post then the post will be remove.
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