Osama bin Laden was killed by a team of Navy SEALS on May 2, 2011. About a month later, Relativity Media purchased the rights to the fictional Navy SEAL-centric action movie "Act of Valor," for a sum that was "arguably the biggest money paid for a finished film with an unknown cast." That unknown cast is made up partly of active duty Navy SEALs. The movie's trailer was "shown on the official website of the video game Battlefield 3." The movie will be released on President's Day.

We simply want to note this: this film is a piece of propaganda for the U.S. military. Make no mistake. It may be a good action movie, or a bad action movie; it may be a rock-em sock-em entertainment whirlwind, or a disappointment; but it is surely, without question, a piece of propaganda designed to glorify the U.S. military and its exploits, and, by extension, to woo young men and women into a state of mind in which they consider joining the U.S. military, what with all of the action-packed adventures in which soldiers find themselves.

Any film starring active duty Navy SEALs, with the support of the U.S. Defense Department, purchased for a hefty sum in the midst of the Bin Laden death media maelstrom, to be released on President's Day, is a piece of propaganda. It could not be anything but. If you want to pay money in order to sit through hours of sanctioned U.S. military propaganda, that is your right.

The Navy SEALs who acted in the movie didn't even get paid. So don't buy a ticket for their sake.