The Patriot starring Mel Gibson

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The Patriot starring Mel Gibson “The Patriot”, starring Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger, was one of the highest grossing films of 2000. Based upon the story of an ex-soldier turned father and farmer, “The Patriot” is set in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. This critique on the film, however, is not based upon how monetarily successful it was, but rather on its historical accuracy. So the question arises, does “The Patriot” accurately portray the struggle between the colonies and Great Britain during the Revolutionary War? The answer is a overwhelmingly definite yes. Mel Gibson plays Benjamin Martin, an ex-soldier who became a hero while fighting for the British during the French and Indian War. His fighting days long over, Martin settles down with his seven children after the death of his wife. The story begins here in 1776 on a farm in South Carolina. It is easy to recreate costumes and the environment of a particular era, but it is not as easy to recreate the mindset of those who live in that era accurately. “The Patriot”, in my opinion, does so quite well. When Martin is called to Charlestown for a meeting of the South Carolina colony, he finds the city in an all out support for independence. At one point you even see the “hanging” and burning of a mannequin resembling a British soldier while the crowd yells “Death to King George!” This itself is an accurate portrayal of colonial defiance of the crown. Throughout the colonies prior to and during the Revolutionary War there were numerous demonstrations of this sort, from burning the houses of tax collectors, to tar and feathering British governmental representatives. During the meeting, the conflict between loyalism and independence became somewhat real to me. T... ... middle of paper ... ...these attacks. In “The Patriot” Martin takes his men to a similar place called Black Swamp. There are many more examples of the historical accuracy of the film “The Patriot”, but not enough time to tell about them all. This critique of the film was quite rewarding to me in that it provided me with a chance to actually sit down and examine a film in depth. I actually had to rewind the tape several times in order to take notes that I could go back to later. Perhaps the most rewarding thing, however, was not in the film itself, but what I learned about General Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion during this process. For more information on General Marion you can go to http://webpages.homestead.com/revwar/files/MARION.HTM to learn about him. In conclusion, I personally find the movie “The Patriot” to be an entertaining, yet historically accurate film worthy of viewing.

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