Unpatriotic

Rating: Null/10 (17 August 2002)

In reviewing my over 700 IMDb comments, I discovered that a couple had been deleted after over a year. One of these is a comment on 'The Patriot.' This is my replacement.
I believe that film influences one's notion of who they are more strongly than any other public art. And that the notion of self is more affected in terms of nationality than anything else.
So although I respect artistic freedom, especially in cinema, we as viewers have to call major players to account when they tromp all over what it means to be American. This film is the worst example I know of distorting history to promote a view of Americans that has more to do with market forces than what is true and right.
(Fill in here the real history of South Carolina as a member of the U. S. from then to now, based on your own research.)
Mel Gibson is to blame. You would think that after generating a billion dollars in the two years around this film, he would want to spend some of that goodwill on responsible citizenship in his adopted country. Instead, what we get is 'Braveheart' presented as history. It was fine in Braveheart to just make things up -- that was a mythical time and a relatively magical place. Creating a saintly giant is just good storytelling. But recent history is something else. History that changes the basic equations that defined the nation is something else. Tinkering with the notions of democratic self-determinism and collective deliberation is something else, especially when replaced by personal, uncontrolled vigilantism.
Worse, this defines not only what we think of ourselves, but what others think of us: violent thugs who react without limit based on personal vendetta. The director is the guy who the previous year marketed a picture ("Independence Day") purely on how funny it would be to blow up the White House and Empire State Building.
Mel, you should be ashamed. I am ashamed for you.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 4: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.