Relax, 'First Man' DOES Have American Flags And Isn't A "Falsification Of History"

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If you read our review of Damien Chazelle’s latest film “First Man,” you’ll notice our reviewer, Jessica Kiang, mentions the incredible craftsmanship, the beautiful acting, and the spectacle on display, as she raved about the film. But apparently, she forgot to mention that the film is completely un-American! Or so says the latest culture war that has somehow engulfed Ryan Gosling’s latest film.

READ MORE: Damien Chazelle’s ‘First Man’ Is An Immaculately Crafted, Old-Fashioned Epic [Venice Review]

You would think when a Senator calls a film “total lunacy,” or when a respected conservative pundit says a movie presents the “foolish and pernicious falsification of history,” that whatever film they’re talking about must be complete garbage, right? Well, these comments all come from people that have yet to see “First Man” and are going by what is being taken out of context by social media. Go figure, social media takes something out of context and blows it up into a virtual battlefield.

By most accounts, we have The Telegraph (among other publications) to thank for this latest bit of crazy. The report, which covered a post-premiere news conference with the cast and crew of “First Man,” says that the Neil Armstrong-landing-on-the-Moon film fails to show the classic American flag being planted scene. You know which one we’re talking about, the one that was in most major history books. Well, it’s not in the movie, and according to social media, that makes “First Man” some sort of “SJW” and “PC” movie.

So before we get into what was said at the news conference (that apparently really perturbed the folks at “Fox and Friends”), let’s talk about what is actually in the film. Because we actually have someone who has seen the finished work.

*Slight Spoilers for ‘First Man’*

According to our reviewer, the aforementioned Jessica Kiang, “First Man” definitely features the American flag throughout the film. It’s on the uniforms. The political climate surrounding the Moon landing is discussed. And there’s even a scene where a kid hoists an American flag in Neil Armstrong’s lawn.

READ MORE: New ‘First Man’ Trailer Blasts Ryan Gosling Off To The Moon

All that being said, the flag being planted on the Moon isn’t there. But that doesn’t mean that it was somehow maliciously removed to paint the Moon landing as a universal gesture. Apparently, the entire landing sequence, which is what the entire film builds up to, is handled in a few short scenes. It appears that Chazelle didn’t feel the need to recreate a piece of history that has already been pretty well-documented.

This brings us to the press conference, where Ryan Gosling, who plays Armstrong, didn’t do himself any favors and unknowingly added fuel to this ridiculous fire. “I think this was widely regarded in the end as a human achievement [and] that’s how we chose to view it. I also think Neil was extremely humble, as were many of these astronauts, and time and time again he deferred the focus from himself to the 400,000 people who made the mission possible,” the actor explained.

He continued, “So I don’t think that Neil viewed himself as an American hero. From my interviews with his family and people that knew him, it was quite the opposite. And we wanted the film to reflect Neil.”

Gosling apparently jokingly added, “I’m Canadian, so might have cognitive bias.”

It’s the term “human achievement” and how Armstong didn’t view himself as an “American hero” that seems to be adding to this insane thought that Gosling and filmmaker Chazelle are trying to dilute the American involvement in the Moon landing. Clearly, speaking in front of an international crowd, and being Canadian, Gosling was trying to appeal to the world stage.

However, when you have quotes like that, compounded with social media’s knack for blowing things out of proportion and talking about things with no knowledge and out of context, you get a shitstorm like this.

TLDR; “First Man” is probably not the American flag-waving, beer-drinking space film that some people might have expected, but it’s also not some “falsification of history” that people seem to think. Just relax, people. The film is good, and you’ll probably love it. Wait until you see it before you grab your pitchforks and storm the castle, okay?