re: So “First Man” is supposed to be a Armstrong & landing on the moon biopic- w/o USA Flag?

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the actor attempted to sidestep the question by responding that the moon landing “transcended countries and borders.”

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That's fine...but "the world" didn't do it. There was no we. In fact, we were in competition with another country Gosling may have heard of...

And that aspect of the story was a HUGE deal...beating the Russians.

That was our drive. Omitting that is not really telling the full story about why we went to the Moon.

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Why is it not surprising that a "moderate" like you yet again takes the lame arse left wing excuse as gospel?

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I’m not a moderate. I may not be intellectually capable of the consistency I would prefer on some things, but there are very few things I have a “moderate” stance on (taxes, big government, war on drugs, etc.). Although I guess things I don’t care as much about may seem result in a more moderate view or at least appear that way.

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His fricking kids are not going to badmouth a movie about him.

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What? This literally happens all the time in biopics or historical films, whether children or direct decedents (like Benedict Cumberbatch’s character in 7 years a slave).

For example:

Johnny Cash's Daughter Storms Out of 'Walk the Line' Premiere Over Portrayal of Mother

Nicole Kidman understands why Princess Grace's kids are upset about movie

Aaliyah’s Family Speaks Out on Biopic: Lifetime Is the ‘Wrong Forum’

Although this Aaliyah one seems to be an issue that happens with a lot of lifetime biopics, like Whitney Houston.

Nina Simone's family slam Zoe Saldana over biopic

Bruce Lee’s Daughter Calls Father’s New Biopic a ‘Travesty’ and ‘Disappointment’

Hank Williams' grandson criticizes 'I Saw the Light' biopic

Marvin Gaye's son slams 'shameful' biopic

David Foster Wallace estate slams forthcoming Jason Segel biopic

Apparently it’s not just Hollywood either:

After Gemini Ganesan’s family slammed Mahanati, Savitri’s daughter speaks in film’s defence

Daughter blasts biopic of tragic film star Romy Schneider

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I said “maybe” he saw something bigger since he was standing on the moon afterall. And well not to mention here was his quote to President Nixon while on the moon:
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Thank you, Mr. President. It's a great honor and privilege for us to be here, representing not only the United States, but men of peace of all nations, and with interest and curiosity, and men with a vision for the future. It's an honor for us to be able to participate here today.

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That's fine.

But there's also this:

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not only the United States, but men of peace of all nations, and with interest and curiosity,

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That's fine, the US wanted to be inclusive in passing when it was so heavily a US-Russia race.

But to gloss over this:

The gemini project cost a shiteload, manpower, US taxpayers money. We paid for the achievement in dollars and lives.

When Gus Grissom's wife heard that the US and Russians were going to share a Space Station she was livid...

(Paraphrasing) That her husband gave his life to beat the Russians and now we are going to act like everyone went to the Moon and it wasn't a big Nationalistic deal.

It was...going to the Moon was a HUGE nationalist deal in the space race and not telling that story is absurd and it's not telling the actual story of the race for space.

This is the greatest example of American exceptionalism and yet we don't get a part in the movie?

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This is the greatest example of American exceptionalism and yet we don't get a part in the movie?

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I mean unless it doesn’t make it clear that this was a NASA project, and NASA is an agency within the United States Federal Government, and the mission was a United States mission, I don’t know how a whole film dedicated to that mission wouldn’t be pretty much a representation of American exceptionalism.

And considering that the astronauts have clear markings of the United States flag on their suits and the United States flag is shown multiple times on the moon, I don’t know how a person who didn’t even know it was a US mission wouldn’t see that when watching the film.

And if American Exceptionalism can’t be represented in all of the hard, amazing, and never before done work that resulted in the mission, plus the mission itself with shots of the flag on the moon solely because they didn’t show the flag being planted on the moon, then either the line to cross exceptionalism, or just exceptionalism itself, has a dubious delineation and/or definition.

We have this understandable tendency to value symbols of greatness. The thing is that those symbols a representation of some greatness, but the symbolic value exists only because that potential to reach this greatness had a low probability of success and had never been done, meaning the odds of succcees were very low and odds of failure (even severe failure, like death) were very high.

So the true greatness was not just the outcome of reaching this great achievement, it’s all of the long odds, difficult barriers, and the extreme risks that made the achievement extremely unlikely and the serious risks far too extreme that overcoming those odds just to get a mere chance to obtain the ultimate achievement an amazing feat in and itself. And then finally reaching that achievement was also an amazing feat.

So the symbol means nothing if failed and if it was easy with nothing truly important at stake. So a symbols value and the extent of that is solely a function of the amazingness of the actual feats and their importance. And the symbolic representation is solely dependent on those things, but those things aren’t dependent on the symbol and the symbol does not have any meaningful relevance on those things and they have no dependency on it.

So symbols are useful reminders and representations of some greatness, but they don’t possess the greatness, and they didn’t contributed to the greatness. Sometimes the symbolic representation is all that we have available, but even then, it’s meant to highlight that greatness, not become it. And if they greatness can still be seen, whether in a re-enactment or in person, then those symbols are even less meaningful when you can see the greatness first hand, even if the re-enactment is still a symbolic representation in theory, it alllows the greatness to be seen as if we were there and represents it in its closest form possible.

In other words, all of this emphasis on symbols has misplaced their purpose and overrated their value to a point that they’re no longer symbolic reminder and represenstions of greatness but they are the greatness themselves. But greatness doesn’t need a symbol anyways since it existed/exists, so something that has no bearing on the greatness, and is only meant to remind/represent people of that greatness that was unrelated to the symbol can’t be considered greatness itself.

Yeah....I blame the a-hole critic who originally reported this story and got the controversy rolling. I don't think they expected the controversy because they didn't have any prepared words for it. The flag is there. It's in the movie. Who the hell cares if they don't actually show them planting it in the ground? The fact that it is there is more than enough for me.

Somebody should ask Who Made the Moon?

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The film fails to show one of the most integral moments of American history

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This is just stupid.

If we are looking for important “moments,” there are lots of them related to Apollo 11.

The launch was important. Successful touchdown of the lunar lander was important. Walkin on the surface od another world was important. Successful re-launch of the lander was important. Successful splashdown was important.

Planting a flag was theater. It isn’t like we claimed the whole thing for the Motherland.

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Really? You don't think it's chicken shite just a little?

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I just don't care but I appreciate your virtue signaling

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your lack of self awareness is staggering

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I'm aware enough to realize they made a business decision aimed at making them more money

The moon landing was all about sticking it to the USSR. It was about American achievement.