Neil Armstrong's sons defend 'First Man' against anti-American jibes

 

The 75th Venice International Film Festival - photocall for the opening movie "First Man" competing in the Venezia 75 section - Venice, Italy, August 29, 2018 - Director Damien Chazelle, screenwriter Josh Singer and cast members Ryan Gosling, Jason Clarke, Olivia Hamilton and Claire Foy. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The family of astronaut Neil Armstrong on Friday defended a new film against accusations of anti-Americanism because it does not show him planting the U.S. flag to mark the first moon landing.

 

"First Man," starring Canadian actor Ryan Gosling as the late astronaut, had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival earlier this week and won rave reviews from critics, making it an early contender for Hollywood's awards season.

 

"We do not feel this movie is anti-American in the slightest. Quite the opposite," Armstrong's sons Rick and Mark said in a statement.

 

The film is not due for release until October, but reports of the missing flag-planting scene were seized on by some in the United States. Republican Senator Marco Rubio called the omission "total lunacy."

 

"The American people paid for that mission, on rockets built by Americans, with American technology & carrying American astronauts," Rubio added on Twitter.

 

"First Man" director Damien Chazelle also denied he was trying to make a political statement by omitting the specific scene of the flag planting during the 1969 moon landing. The movie does show other shots of the flag on the moon.

 

"To address the question of whether this was a political statement, the answer is no," Chazelle said in a statement.

 

But conservative activist Michael Q. Sullivan wrote on Twitter, "Leftist Canadian actor Ryan Gosling and the producers of #FirstMan would have you believe this did not happen" under a photo of the U.S. flag and Armstrong on the moon.

 

Chazelle and Armstrong's sons said the movie's focus was on the astronaut's personal story and the challenges he faced in getting to the moon. Armstrong died in 2012.

 

"The filmmakers chose to focus on Neil looking back at the Earth, his walk to Little West Crater, his unique, personal experience of completing this journey, a journey that had seen so many incredible highs and devastating lows," the sons said in the statement issued with James R. Hansen, the author of the book on which the film is based.

 

Chazelle said the film was about "one of the most extraordinary accomplishments not only in American history, but in human history."

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-01

Looking forward to seeing it. The only time I was ever allowed to miss school (unless at deaths door sick) was to watch this live on grainy black and white television. Still remember it.

Adapted for the Chinese market?

Paid for by the US taxpayers yes. But I believe quite a bit of Foreign technology went into the project. So a multinational effort. And We all know that this was a USA achievement anyway. A great day to watch. I remember it well

I saw it on TV too, I was 8.  

And years later I inherited the toolbox of one of the techs at Sydney's Broadway telephony exchange, where the pictures were beamed from the moon to Parkes dish in SA to NASA across the pond. 

RIP Jack Hancock.   

17 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The American people paid for that mission, on rockets built by Americans, with American technology & carrying American astronauts," Rubio added on Twitter.

Just one tiny point......the Saturn V super lift rocket's chief architect was actually Wernher Von Braun......Still a great achievement non the less...

Three troll posts have been removed.

If I see another the poster/posters can expect a holiday. 

 

Didn't some liberal polly just say America was never that great? well getting to the moon was a great feat and had a pivotal role in bankrupting, and therefore freeing millions of people from communism in Russia. The irony is the left are pushing a socialist agenda which is a precursor to communism. 

A post with off topic comment that couldn't be edited out has been removed.

9 hours ago, BoganInParasite said:

Looking forward to seeing it. The only time I was ever allowed to miss school (unless at deaths door sick) was to watch this live on grainy black and white television. Still remember it.

Module touchdown occurred at UTC 20:17 UTC and Neil touched surface at 02:56:15 UTC. We watched it at school in NZ, on Monday afternoon. I can't remember how long we watched for, but it would have been between 9 am and 3 pm in that time zone (UTC +12).

that movie I would like to see, very much

 

I watched it on tv when it took place

I was onboard a ship in the middle of the Med Sea and struggled to get TV signals from Malta and/or Southern Italy

made a profound impression on me

 

I was in China when all the hoopla was on their trip to the moon. 

Courteously I congratulated those that were excited about it....

but in my mind thinking hmmmm US did that how long ago.

 

Good for China shows technology is growing be it borrowed, home grown or whatever.. Good on them

Troll post removed.

The movie is supposed to be quite good, obviously, I haven't seen it, just a trailer.

 

No clue if Sen. Rubio has seen it yet, so unsure if his critical comment is valid?

 

Most of us of age remember President Kennedy's September 12, 1962, Rice Stadium Speech with the famous line challenging us:

 

"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."

 

And most of us remember where we were when the LM landed, for us, it was the summer of 1969, so no school for us to worry about. I honestly don't remember the "planting of the flag" as being the most memorable activity of Apollo 11?

 

He did say, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.", and not "That's one small step for America..."

 

What would he make of this faux patriotism? Who knows, but his response might not be so controlled? Obviously, his children know better what his response might be.

 

Fox News host Laura Ingraham seems to have set this latest "patriotism" kerfuffle off - again no clue if she's seen the film? She seems easily miffed if we're not sufficiently "patriotic" for her liking, see also NFL players kneeling.

 

 

Laura Ingraham: Neil Armstrong movie ‘trashing patriotism’ by leaving out American flag planting

 

Fox News host Laura Ingraham is saying a new movie about Neil Armstrong that leaves out the astronaut planting the American flag on the moon is "trashing patriotism."

 

"It's another way of trashing patriotism," Ingraham said on her Friday broadcast. "It's another way of moving beyond the nationalism, or nationalistic spirit of the moment."

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/404669-laura-ingraham-neil-armstrong-movie-trashing-patriotism-by

 

Whatever your politics it must seem strange to leave out the most iconic part.

Yes I too remember the Moon landing - Where has all the time gone!

 

There was a joke around at the time regarding the German scientists grabbed by the Russians and Americans after the war. Who would get to the Moon first, the Russian German scientists or the American German scientists.  

 

Nice little Australian movie relating to the Moon landing:-  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205873/ -  

 

In the days before the July 19, 1969 space mission that marked humankind's first steps on the moon, NASA was working with a group of Australian technicians who had agreed to rig up a satellite interface. That the Aussies placed the satellite dish smack dab in the middle of an Australian sheep farm in the boondocks town of Parkes was just one of the reasons that NASA was concerned. Based on a true story, The Dish takes a smart, witty, comical look at the differing cultural attitudes between Australia and the U.S. while revisiting one of the greatest events in history

 

 

Seems like the only benefit of being Rubio is watching movies months before they’re official out. 

 

I will admit it does seem an odd thing to leave out of the movie. As another poster said, I really hope it wasn’t to appease any particular investment sensitivities.

 

 

On 9/3/2018 at 7:26 AM, DoctorG said:

Whatever your politics it must seem strange to leave out the most iconic part.

Surprised they didn't make it a bit more 'multi-cultural' and add a female to the landing party, they don't seem to have any problems rewriting the rest of history.