No. 2 The Patriot: Inaccurate & Bias
The film, The Patriot, directed by Roland Emmerich was an entertaining portrayal of the American Revolution. What one could mean by the word “entertaining” is that while it had amazing action sequences, it also did not have a good accuracy of the real Revolution. While the fight scenes were rather bloody and gruesome at times, the film seemed to sugarcoat the reality of the war. The film showed the Americans as real heroes and the Britain’s as nothing but pure evil. Thus the message is clear in the film: The Americans are to be shown in a golden light, to draw attention away from the wrongdoings of the Americans during that time period.
The first thing that one can raise an eyebrow on, were the treatment of African Americans during the film. Now this was before Abraham Lincoln had abolished slavery and at the time, slaves were treated as furniture and not necessarily as human beings. The film starts off in South Carolina in 1776. This was at a time when the slave trade was at its highest. In the film, the slaves looked as though they were treated as workers and were not slaves. When Col. William Tavington decided to burn down Benjamin Martin’s house, he tells his “workers” that they are free and will fight in the British army. One of martin’s workers, Joshua argues with the Colonel saying, “We’re not slaves, we’re freedmen…” (I). This seemed deeply inaccurate especially since by 1776, the Slave Trade was used by many countries. If this was thirty years earlier this might have been believable, but since it was in the middle of when many countries were using the Slave Trade, the idea of slaves being treated as equals with others is highly doubtful. But because this film was trying to make Americans look golden, there had to be some kind of exaggeration to make the film appealing to a very patriotic audience.
Another example of inaccuracy was the choice of dialect that was used in the film. When any person would speak, they sounded too modern for 18th Century Colonial America. According to Mel Gibson, as he speaks to the Loyalist of Charlestown, “And what of the greedy, self-serving bastards who sit as Magistrates on the Admiralty Court and have fine nearly every man in this room. Should they be boxed about the ear and thrown onto the first ship back to England? I’ll do it myself.” (I). He speaks very well, however he talks too modern in a since there does not seem to be any trace of old english in his voice or dialect. what’s inaccurate is that if it was Colonial America wouldn’t they talk more old English and have more of an English accent. Gibson talks modern, because it makes it easier for the audience to relate to him if he talks like a normal 21st century man. In order for the film to be more appealing to an American audience, the dialect was modern so that even if it was inaccurate, the audience could relate to the character more.
In conclusion, The Patriot may have been very inaccurate tot he real facts of the American Revolution, but it did achieve its purpose to put Americans on a lighter side in the Revolution. While one was watching the film, there were those who forgot how cruel slaves were treated, and why Colonial Americans were speaking so modern. The message may skip over the dark details, but one can believe it does serve as a reminder to the importance of the Revolution and how American victory marked the end of British rule and began a new age of creating a land of the free and home of the brave.
(I)-The Patriot
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