More than a month before its officially released in theaters, Damien Chazelles moon landing drama First Man is already embroiled in political controversy. Its genesis? The fact that there is no scene in the movie explicitly showing our enterprising Americans firmly planting the stars and stripes into the gray lunar surface—though the flag is apparently included in several shots. Right-wing Twitter has feverishly renounced the film for its disgusting lack of patriotism, with Florida Senator Marco Rubio calling the omission “total lunacy” (get it?) after it was first reported by The Telegraph. And now, one of the guys who was actually there has offered his two cents.
Buzz Aldrin, the second human being ever to set foot on the moon, tweeted a pair of pictures on Saturday night of himself and his Apollo crew members standing around the newly erected flag on the moon (or artfully arranged on Stanley Kubricks set, depending on your stance on popular conspiracy theories). Although he didnt reference the controversy outright, his tweet includes various hashtags, such as “#proudtobeanAmerican,” “#freedom” and “#onenation.” We hear you loud and clear, Buzz.
Elsewhere, the sons of Neil Armstrong, along with First Man author James R. Hansen, offered their respective takes on this business in a statement released on Friday: “This story is human and it is universal. Of course, it celebrates an American achievement. It also celebrates an achievement for all mankind, as it says on the plaque Neil and Buzz left on the moon. It is a story about an ordinary man who makes profound sacrifices and suffers through intense loss in order to achieve the impossible.”
Now, no one tell conservative Twitter about how Aldrin saw the flag knocked over by the lunar modules liftoff blast when they left.
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