I saw the movie with my wife a while back, and I was thinking about all the controversy surrounding Chris Kyle and the things he had said, or written, which cause people to question his character. If you don't mind me taking the time to partially hijack this post, here is my soapbox.

We are all human. None of us are perfect, and very few of us are saints. Chris Kyle was an exceptional serviceman who saved the lives of his fellow servicemen, both indirectly by taking out the enemy before they could strike, directly when he was involved in door-to-door operations, when his team went in on operations themselves, and when he got back home and volunteered with the VA to help those who didn't quite make it back, in more ways than one.

Chris himself was one of those people. The movie showed very clearly the effects PTSD had on him. It didn't go further into detail than was necessary to tell the story, but it should be worth mentioning that PTSD can lead to depression, paranoia, self-medication, and people saying and doing things they normally might not if they were themselves.

I do not say this to excuse some of the things Kyle may have said and written that have made people question his character, but rather, to attempt to better understand him. To give him the benefit of the doubt that we all deserve.

Going back to the first part of my analysis: we are all human. The people we hold up as heroes, upon closer inspection, almost always had their skeletons and their demons. MLK cheated on his wife. Churchill drank like a fish, and was clinically depressed. But when we think of them, we don't whitewash the bad, so much as focus on the good- and we don't do it for them, we do it for us.

People don't need failure to inspire them. People don't need mediocrity to inspire them. People need greatness to inspire them. Ask any shrink worth a damn, and he'll tell you it's better to focus on the positive, rather than the negative. That doesn't mean you forget about it, but it doesn't mean you let it define you, either.

Give me a hero, and I'll tell you his flaws- but that won't make you want to be like him. Chris Kyle will be remembered for the good that he did. The bad will still be there for those who wish to look for it, but I do not think that is a bad thing.