Moore, Rogen banned from restaurant
Director, actor suffer backlash for passing deglorifying comments about US Navy Seal-based film ‘American...
Michigan steakhouse owner Tommy Bran put up a sign, which read that the two are no longer welcomed at his restaurant. PHOTO: FILE
Director Michael Moore and actor Seth Rogen have been vocal in their contempt for the recent release American Sniper. While Moore had tweeted his distaste for snipers, terming them as ‘cowards’, Rogen categorised the film as propagandist.
The two have been under the gun (pun intended) for their allegedly deglorifying statements about an “American hero,” US Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle, who the film centralises. A recent and interesting ripple created by the backlash is that both Moore and Rogen have been banned from a Michigan steakhouse, reported Huffington Post.
Michael Moore
“Michael Moore and Seth Rogan are not allowed in my place,” read a large sign outside Brann’s Steakhouse and Grille in Wyoming, Michigan. Tommy Brann, the owner of the steakhouse, said he put the sign up after hearing Moore and Rogen’s remarks about the Academy Award-nominated film, based on Kyle’s autobiography titled The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US Military History.
Brann termed Chris Kyle an “American hero,” saying that he represented the “goodness of America and the people who defend it.” Speaking in favour of the actions of the former Seal, he stated, “He was doing his job and he was doing it great. The remark was offensive and, if Chris Kyle was still alive, he would handle Michael Moore in a minute.” He added, “Chris Kyle’s family, why do they have to hear it? To me, that’s really hurtful.”
In his tweet, Moore had slammed snipers and said that they are not the “heroes they were made out to be.” He later clarified his comments, stating that he made them in reference to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, and also elaborated on how he supports the members of the military. Rogen continued to court controversy as he compared American Sniper to fake propaganda movies, which are shown in the film Inglourious Basterds.
Seth Rogen
Brann stated that he wasn’t trying to attract attention by making political statements. The news surfaced after a former employee posted a picture of the sign on Facebook. He noted that he has mostly received positive reactions to the sign and felt the criticism he has received was worth it, especially after he was thanked by a neighbour, whose son had died fighting in Iraq.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 28th, 2015.