The Patriot Historically Accurate Analysis

The Patriot (2000) The Patriot is a film about the Revolutionary War. It was directed by Roland Emmerich and starred Mel Gibson as well as Heath Ledger and Joely Richardson. It has had three Oscar Award nominations and has won ten other awards. When the film was released it received much attention, criticism, and controversy, mostly for its historical accuracy (Glancy, Mark). The film The Patriot is not historically accurate because of the depiction of British soldiers, the way in which people saluted in the film, and the way in which Benjamin Martin was depicted. The film is not historically accurate because of the depiction of British soldiers. It depicted British soldiers as cynical and merciless killers. In one scene British soldiers imprison normal people of that town in a church and burn the church down. No
records are found of this ever happening during the Revolutionary War. It is said that the film even compared British soldiers to Nazis. The burning down of a church full of common people happened in France in 1944, and it was carried out by Nazi soldiers. (Webley, Kayla). To be exact the atrocity occurred in the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane on June 10, 1944 and was carried out by Germany’s second S.S. Panzer Division. Furthermore, the film depicts Tarleton’s mounted legion wearing red coats in intent to make the film seem more authentic. In reality though, Tarleton’s mounted legion wore green (Fischer, Hackett). Overall, the film did not portray British soldiers accurately, making them seem cruel to an extreme. Additionally, the film got wrong the way in which people during the Revolutionary War saluted one another. The film shows the protagonist, Ben Martin, raising a hand to his forehead, resembling the modern days’ salute. In reality though, during the Revolutionary War, people saluted by removing their hats and placing them on their heads once again (Hand Salute). This being a small detail but still being worth noticing. Moreover, the film depicts Benjamin Martin inaccurately by making him an honorable, loving father of seven children who is only looking for vengeance for both of his sons’ deaths. The character Benjamin Martin is based on a real life historical figure, Francis Marion (Loya, Robert). Francis Marion was an American Revolutionary soldier who fought using guerilla tactics. He disrupted British line of communication, captured scouting and foraging parties, and intimidated loyalists. Marion also had nickname, the Swamp Fox because he had a tendency of disappearing into swamps to escape British troops (Francis Marion). This all sounds exceedingly similar to Benjamin who did the same things and whose nick was the Ghost because he attacked British troops and disappeared and was never seen. In fact an article from the website theguardian states that “when he wasn 't forging the land of the free, it seems that Marion was slaughtering Indians for fun and regularly raping his female slaves. Unsurprisingly, The Patriot script elected to gloss over this aspect of its protagonist 's life”. For these reasons the film did not do a good job of portraying Benjamin Martin. If Martin was based on Marion then it was not correct because in no moment in the film does Martin kill an Indian. The relationship between the film and the society of the time in which the film was made is that on April 10, 1998, Britain and Ireland made an agreement to end the war. Northern Ireland was ceded by England after the Irish War of Independence ended (Keko, Don). It is probable that the producers of the film were inspired by the Irish War of Independence to make a film about the American War of Independence. My opinion of the film is that aside from the multiple historical inaccuracies in the film, the film was able to capture the attention of its viewers persistently.
Many elements made this an entertaining film. For instance, the visual elements such as the battlefield’s special effects. Also the romance, the faith, the hope, the honor, and the triumph made this a captivating film. This film had a lot of criticism, but people need to face the fact that this is not a historical documentary, and that it is just entertainment. Yes the film’s setting is in the past, yes the film is about the Revolutionary War, and yes it deals with history, but that does not automatically make it a documentary. I would definitely recommend this to another student. The film The Patriot is not historically accurate. In fact, it is doubtful if the purpose of the film was to be historically accurate. It is most likely it was for sheer entertainment. Nevertheless, the film did not portray British soldiers, the way people saluted one another and the protagonist Benjamin Martin accurately. For these reasons is why it remains impossible to call it historically
accurate.

Works Cited
Fischer, Hackett. "Hubris, But No History." The New York Times. N.p., 1 July 2000. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. .
Glancy, Mark. “The War of Independence in Feature Films: The Patriot (2000) and the ‘Special
Relationship’ between Hollywood and Britain.” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and
Television 25.4 (2005): 523-545. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.
Keko, Don. "Top 10 historical moments of the 1990s." examiner.com. N.p., 3 Feb. 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. http://www.examiner.com/article/top-10-historical-moments-of-the-1990s.
Loya, Robert. "Historical Inaccuracies of The Patriot." Prezi. N.p., 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. http://prezi.com/slbacyezwq0w/historical-inaccuracies-of-the-patriot/.
"Marion Francis." Infoplease. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/marion-francis.html.
"The Patriot (2000)." IMDb. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187393/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"Origin of the Hand Salute." Quartermaster Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. .
Webley, Kayla. "The Patriot: Top 10 Historically Misleading films." Time Entertainment. N.p., 25 Jan. 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. http://entertainment.time.com/2011/01/26/top-10-historically-misleading-films/slide/the-patriot-2000/.