Amy Nicholson, a film critic with LA Weekly, sparked controversy and anger from veterans after calling “Lone Survivor” a “jingoistic snuff film” that will “flop in Kabul,” Twitchy reported Thursday.
The movie tells the story of Navy SEALs fighting the Taliban in the mountainous Kunar province. Only one SEAL, Marcus Luttrell, survived the battle.
Although Nicholson perfunctorily called the SEALs “heroes,” she spent most of the column deriding the film as “jingoistic” with an attitude of “brown people bad, American people good.”
Glenn Beck hammered Nicholson for her criticism, calling her a “vile, repugnant, and ignorant liar,” The Blaze said.
“I mean this sincerely – I will fly you first class,” Beck said, according to The Blaze. “I will put you up at the Four Seasons … You will dine on the finest possible food, and you will come in here and you will sit down and speak these words to Marcus Luttrell. If you have the balls to say what you just said to Marcus Luttrell and back it up, go for it.”
Beck also told Nicholson that Luttrell is a Texan, which he said is “different than an American.”
“He listens and obeys his mother. He treats his wife and all women with respect … You’ll walk into the studio and Marcus will know who you are, and Marcus will hold the door open for you even though … that will drive you out of your mind. He will treat you with respect,” Beck added.
A number of people took to Twitter to condemn Nicholson after Beck read her the riot act, Twitchy said.
“I’m deeply offended by your review. [I]t feels like a kick in the stomach to those I served with and lost their lives fighting,” one person tweeted.
“Thank you so much for hiring people who do not appreciate our military. ty for letting me know my service was BS,” another person said.
“Hey I’m brown and a 20 year veteran, does this mean I’m a bad person?” another person asked, wondering if the LA Weekly is “hiring racist.”
Nicholson responded with a tweet saying she called the SEALs “heroes,” adding that her criticism was aimed at the director, not Luttrell.
But a number of people didn’t buy that explanation.
“Right so this quote was not supposed to be an insult to our warriors: ‘Brown people bad, American people good,'” one person said.
Nicholson then tried to deflect the issue by citing a Slate article that called the movie inaccurate.
That didn’t sit well with some.
“Fact check? No one else was there. Keep trying to defend your idiotic ‘review’, you just look worse,” one person said.
Not everyone was critical of Nicholson, however. According to Twitchy some who identified themselves as veterans sided with her criticism.
“Combat vet here. Glenn and his followers are idiots. Good review,” one person said.
Despite criticism from Nicholson and Slate, the movie raked in $37.9 million in what the Los Angeles Times called “the second-biggest opening ever in the month of January.”
Related:
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- MSNBC’s Chris Hayes ‘uncomfortable’ calling fallen military ‘heroes’
- MSNBC’s Chris Hayes offers apology for anti-veteran comment
- VFW demands MSNBC, Chris Hayes apologize for ‘disgusting’ anti-veteran comment
- Military man allegedly denied service at California Chevron gas station
- Veteran says anti-war landlord refused to rent apartment due to military service
