The Patriot? or
The Revolution was not fought for permission.
By Barry Bright
June 29, 2000
Blood soaked fear and fury, funny, warm and hot blooded scenes, vengefulness, catastrophes, atrocities on both sides, forgiveness sought and found, ?The Patriot? seems to have it all.
After much admitted anticipation I did what I almost never do. I paid full price to see a movie Wednesday night. ?The Patriot? had finally made it to the theaters frequented by us common folk and I just couldn?t get there any earlier in the day so I could pay matinee.
Enough of how cheap I am. ?The Patriot? wasn?t cheap. It did go from being slightly hokey to enjoyable to fairly predictable to a fairly standard formulated Hollywood ending.
Yes, it?s worth going to see and it?ll probably be considered a classic. That?s the good and bad part.
During a scene in the North Carolina Assembly, of which Mel Gibson?s character Benjamin Martin is a member, someone spouts out that they were fighting for a new “nation.” Well that?s not exactly true. Yes maybe some were. Mostly they were fighting for independence for their own little nation states, or the freedom not to be taxed unfairly, i.e. over money. That?s what most wars are fought over.
The ?union? was a confederation until the writing of the current Constitution several years later. Yes I?m sure some planned this from the start.
Overall the Patriot is refreshingly reminiscent of Hollywood films from days gone by when there were discernable good and bad guys and there were actually some principles to stand for in life. Though the film does at times lean toward the “blind patriotism” many of the post WW II story lines were guilty of.
Besides the subplots of vengeance and familial love there is to me the main point of the story: No matter how much one tries to avoid, or makes up excuses to avoid reality, it always, sooner or later comes knocking on your front door.
No single message could be more important to modern-day America. As I was going in to watch the movie I saw a man and his female companion exiting an earlier screening. He was shaking his head sadly and telling her, “People just don?t know what they?re missing.” Could he have any idea how much of a mouthful he said right then?
Benjamin Martin?s prediction to the North Carolina Assembly that the war would be witnessed by the very eyes of their children came true probably sooner than he expected and in a way he might not have considered.
Most already know Martin loses a son to a despicable even to his contemporaries British Officer early in the movie so I will reveal one or two small points about the theme that struck me the deepest. The child killed had a bag full of toy soldiers, painted in British red, that he is shown playing with before they are all plunged into the war.
Martin carries these soldiers into battle and is seen several times after melting the little lead men into bullets to be used, in another act of vengeance for his son, against those who killed him. A 13 star Revolutionary flag that is found and repaired by Martin?s oldest son also figures into this drama of a father carrying forth the dreams of his children and of those who have already sacrificed all for their cause.
Which in a roundabout way brings me to a couple of paragraphs from another story I linked to today about the 5th graders who committed the non-PC act of voting to allow guns to be carried by teachers in their school. It?s a pity they don?t have the policy making power of their less intelligent “teachers” and administrators.
The first paragraph:
“PTA President KaRynn Christensen, spoke in direct opposition to the pro-gun Tobias. She told the students that as a mother, she was concerned that a teacher with a gun might suddenly use it on a student. She told them that she is also against using violent means to stop a violent person.”
Good Lord. Such a repulsive individual should be put in a theater with their eyelids propped open while ?The Patriot” and a few old John Wayne movies are played continuously. Such an idiot should never be allowed near children.
Not only do I believe in using violence to stop violence, I believe in using violence, when all else has failed, to stop such idiots from destroying my most basic right and thus my life.
Lord Cornwallis at one point in the film called his opposition, the militia, “farmers with pitchforks”. Well now-a-days, Mr. Lord “Liberal”, you face farmers with Bushmasters, Norincos, Springfields, and standard deer rifles that on average have more range and power than the much celebrated “assault rifle”. Let?s see what you make of that.
Another example of ignorance-based arrogance from the same article was this:
“Rep. Merrill Cook, R-Utah, was the star of the show. He told the young jurors that he did not personally want teachers to have firearms in school, but he also did not want to deny them their right to carry a firearm if that is their choice and if they have a concealed firearm permit.”
My message for this “star of the show” elected public servant is that the founders didn?t fight for permission. Neither will I. Pass the toy soldiers.