In the opening line of the following trailer for American film director Spike Lee’s newest film, titled CHI-RAQ — a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata by Aristophanes — a voiceover provides this line:

“Homicides in Chicago, Illinois have surpassed the death toll of American Special Forces in Iraq.”

Okay. Now, there’s no doubt there’s something terribly rotten in the “Second City”, as year after year it sees a terrifying number of its citizens murdered by way of the gun. And we understand that Mr. Lee is trying to be over-the-top and provocative with the line, especially in a trailer for a Hollywood movie, which serves as its greatest sales pitch to actually get people to run to the theater and see it. Additionally, we know the movie is trying to present a tongue-in-cheek cautionary tale through an ancient lens while, more broadly, be enormously entertaining (it’s not a documentary, after all).

However …

It’s incredibly misleading. First off, it names United States Special Forces, which is just one group of the many that participated in the Iraq War. In total, 4,491 U.S. military members were killed in the conflict over eight years, from 2003 to 2011. In Chicago, since Rahm Emmanuel took over as mayor in 2011, 1,931 people have been the victims of homicide.

Moreover, the people dying at the hands of gunfire are civilians. They’re not seasoned military members trained to defend themselves in the hellscape that is armed combat (some of them might be former veterans, or even gang members, but let’s not start comparing our military to racketeers with guns — they might be handy with the steel … but, nah).

Since the invasion in 2003, 166,029 civilians have been killed in Iraq.

Since 1989 (that’s going back more than 14 more years than the Iraq number) 16,584 civilians (citizens) have been killed in the city of Chicago. It’s an awful stat, and we’re comparing two horrific evils, but let’s not lose sight or distort what our brave combat veterans had to face (and still do today, unfortunately) in a war zone.

Thousands upon thousands of people have been murdered in Chicago over the last few decades. That sobering fact should be good enough to stand on its own without warping the story of our fallen troops. That dreadful bit of trivia should be enough to push legislation and changes to eradicate the violence.

Of course, when making a point, Samuel L. Jackson narrating never hurts though either (neither does a cast that boasts Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson, Angela Basset, Felicia Pearson!, Carmelo’s wife, and Roger Guenveur Smith!).

https://vimeo.com/144523728