Buzz Aldrin, the second astronaut to set foot on the moon, appeared to criticize the new Neil Armstrong biopic "First Moon" for omitting a scene showing the American flag being planted on the planet.
Aldrin on Sunday tweeted a photo of the historic 1969 event along with a photo of himself looking at the flag. The second photo also is used as Aldrin's Twitter cover photo.
Aldrin's tweet didn't include any comments, only the photos and a series of hashtags: "#proudtobeanAmerican #freedom #honor #onenation #Apollo11 #July1969 #roadtoApollo50."
The film, directed by Oscar winner Damien Chazelle, does not offer a flattering portrayal of Aldrin, painting him as an "obnoxious loudmouth" and "so blunt about his ambition that no one can stand him," reports The Daily Mail online.
Canadian actor Ryan Gosling, who plays Armstrong in the movie, said the late astronaut was "extremely humble," and that he believes the film reflects the moon landing as a "human achievement" rather than an American one.
Back in 1969, there were debates over whether a United Nations flag should have been used, rather than an American flag.
The decision to leave the flag out of the movie has met with criticism in the United States, including from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who in a tweet called the decision "total lunacy."
"The American people paid for that mission, on rockets built by Americans,with American technology & carrying American astronauts," he said. "It wasn’t a UN mission."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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