Paper Summary:

This paper critiques the war film "The Patriot" starring Mel Gibson and explains why the historical message in the film is not an accurate account of the war. The paper points out that "The Patriot" is, in fact, nothing more than a standard revenge tale that uses the Revolutionary War as a backdrop.

From the Paper:

"Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot appears to have been based on the real-life Revolutionary War figure of Brigadier General Francis Marion, whose trademark use of swamps and bogs to evade being captured by the British garnered him the nickname of "The Swamp Fox." But when historians like Bart McDowell point out that Marion "was an avowed racist who hunted American natives for sport and often raped his own slaves"
(145), it is easy to understand why director Emmerich renamed his main protagonist in order to avoid controversy. Unfortunately, as previously stated, The Patriot is replete with historical inaccuracies, a fact due in part to the very nature of filmmaking which at times underplays historical and factual realities, a reflection of what is known as "literary license" where "the screenwriter inserts false premises and events into the story in order to intensify the plotline and the overall action" (Dennison 36). "

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