Neil Armstrong’s sons and the director of a new biopic on the space hero are hitting back against criticism that the film is unpatriotic because of the lack of a flag-planting scene.
Rick and Mark Armstrong said First Man , starring Ryan Gosling, was intended to depict their father’s journey to the moon and delve into “the man behind the myth.”
“This story is human, and it is universal,” the brothers said in their statement issued jointly with First Man author James Hansen. “Of course, it celebrates an American achievement. It also celebrates an achievement ‘for all mankind,’ as it says on the plaque Neil and Buzz (Aldrin) left on the moon.”
The trio added they did not feel the movie was “anti-American in the slightest.”
Mr. Gosling, who portrays Armstrong in the film, and director Damien Chazelle also hit back at criticism.
“In First Man I show the American flag standing on the lunar surface, but the flag being physically planted into the surface is one of several moments of the Apollo 11 lunar EVA that I chose not to focus upon,” he said in a statement.
