The Patriot Essay, Research Paper

THE PATRIOT

The Patriot, directed by Roland Emmerich has to be one of the most patriotic films I have ever seen. This film focuses on merit, and how people of all backgrounds worked together for one cause: freedom.

The movie for the most part is accurate, even though most commentators have a different standpoint. Many of us are aware of the revolution and other important historical events. But, what we have to put into perspective is they the way all of these historical events have been perceived.

The movie’s protagonist is Mel Gibson playing the role of Benjamin Martin. Benjamin Martin is a South Carolina planter who is still haunted by his notoriously brutal past as a soldier in the French and Indian War. When the American Revolution comes, he chooses not to fight for the Continental Army because he wants to protect his family. But when the British Colonel Tavington threatens their welfare and kills one of his sons, he chooses to enlist.

Martin becomes the leader of a makeshift militia, which consists of peasants, slaves, a minister, and other irregulars. During the war Martin and his men discover that they will pay a steep personal price for their rebellion, but are still willing and will go in with it. Thanks to their courage and bravery since July of 1776 through the Declaration of Independence every American is granted rights that must be enforced.

There were great war scenes, good emotional scenes, good directing, good music, good acting, funny parts, there were no slow or boring parts plus it was different than other war movies made recently (since Saving Private Ryan). What do I mean by that you wonder, well to understand that you have to acknowledge that this war was very different from World War II in it’s whole setup. Here there were ideals involved in which men strongly believed and thought these beliefs were worth fighting for, so they enlisted in the army out of free will (almost all of them). In World War II it was just about to eliminate a threat, which was not direct to most Americans, seeing as the battle was not fought in their own backyard. It is the origin of the War that makes it so different, the whole history behind it and the motives of the people to either be on one side or the other.

The acting was superb. Mel Gibson was completely immersed in his role as the reluctant Colonel, for whom the war was a personal vendetta. It is evident that Martin begins as a single father with no intentions of enlisting until his family safety was in jeopardy. He had to handle quite a range of emotions, from the tenderness of a father to the rage and savagery of battle and the seething hatred of the murderous dragoon. He was outstanding in every scene. My favorite scene is the ghost scene, where he takes revenge in honor of his son by killing every soldier, one by one. The Declaration of Independence consisted of the preamble, the middle section and a section declaring independence. The most important part, the preamble, justifies the rights of the American citizens. It declares that “men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The definition of freedom is “the power to act, speak, or think without externally imposed restraints.” Living in the land of the free gives opportunity to the people to exercise free choice.

I believe that in order to understand historical events it is important to have a visual representation of such. Of course, to me this is true because my learning styles tends to gear more to visual than audio. The Patriot is one of the best and most accurate films representing the Revolutionary War.