The Ryan Gosling movie about the first moon landing made by American astronauts Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin has yet to be released to theaters, but “First Man” has already drawn tons of criticism.  The crux of the problem is the film's depiction of epic moment on July 20th, 1969 when the pair proudly planted the American flag firmly upon the lunar surface.  The issue is, the film doesn't depict it at all.  Politicians, activists, hardcore history buffs and more have responded with an uproar to French-American director Damien Chazelle's decision to leave out this historic detail.

Canadian-born lead actor Ryan Gosling has defended this decision, saying that the moon landing “transcended countries and borders.”  Many are claiming that the omission of this very important scene makes the entire movie anti-American.  According to the New York Post, the unreleased movie has already drawn the ire of one of the astronauts involved - "Buzz" Aldrin.

On Sunday, the retired spaceman and pilot proudly tweeted out pictures of the film's omitted moment with the captions #proudtobeanAmerican #freedom #honor #onenation #Apollo11 #July1969 #roadtoApollo50.  On the other side of the coin is the statement released by the surviving family of the late Neil Armstrong on Friday.  Neil's sons, Rick and Mark Armstrong, said that the claims of the film being anti-American were way off base.  According to their statement:

This story is human and it is universal. Of course, it celebrates an America achievement. It also celebrates an achievement ‘for all mankind.' 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 has seen so many incredible highs and devastating lows.”

"First Man" hits theaters on October 12th.

 

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