"The Patriot": Purposeful undercurrent of fervent patriotism for our modern situation

B

buckskinner

New member
Ruminations:
I was watching TLC about "the real Braveheart", and it's my understanding that this movie and Mel Gibson have truly stoked the fires of nationalistic pride in Scotland. It seems Scots have a different view now of their heritage and history thanks to Hollywood.
Now comes "The Patriot", which seems to be a very similar plot. Of course we identify with the revengeful father and patriot. Will this movie change people's minds about our present situation? I refer to these dark days of dwindling freedoms, and a feeling of impending corralling and entrapment.
I know one man who owns guns but is not politically active, and considers people like us at TFL to be "gun nuts". He is a very smart man, and understands how the world works. Yet after seeing the Patriot, he had a new understanding somehow of our modern predicament. We will see if this movie proves to be the catalyst for action for him, but I wonder how many in our wonderful country shared his experience?
I can't help but wonder during these troubled times about every single thing I read,watch,and hear on mainstream media outlets. So when I see the effect of a Hollywood production on whole nations, and this effect is not counter to my beliefs and values, I grow hopeful that there is an unnamed positive force or group of people who are on my/our side.


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Treason doth never prosper. What's the reason? For if it doth prosper, none dare call it treason." - John Barrington
 
I do sincerely hope your friend is not alone. "The Patriot" is the first film since "The Green Berets" to be unabashedly patriotic.

It graphically showed the difference between the colonial egalitarianism and European class distinction, a point important now as most liberals and bureaucrats suffer from Euro-envy mostly because they want to be aristocrats.

It depicted a man who was anti-war, not only because of protective feelings for his family but because of his guilt for his own past war atrocities. It showed him change, not only for vengence but "for the cause." The author and director manage to make Benjamin Martin a hero, not the plastic, one dimentional hero of comic books but a living hero with real conflicts and limitations who nevertheless is *not* the sort of antihero almost exclusively presented these days.

It showed the militia in the proper light, as civilian defenders of home and freedom. the image of Martin the Militiaman carrying the flag riding next to the regular Army commander and the foreign ally was a brilliant piece of symbolism.

Speaking of brilliant symbolism the images in the last battle when Martin grabs the flag and rallys the troops to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat brought back feelings about our flag I lost (mostly) decades ago. And the way he used the flag as a weapon ... WOW

For those very few who may have noticed me agitating for emotion level imagery against gun restrictions, this is exactly the type of thing I mean. Even the use of guns by the children was instructive for those brainwashed or lulled into a stupor by "politically correct" propaganda.

We desperately need more of this sort of thing, some of it set in current times and dealing with more immediate issues.

BTW, I sorta liked this movie. ;)

Bentley

"For as long as one hundred of us shall remain alive we shall never in any wise consent to submit to the rule of the English, for it is not for glory we fight, for riches, or for honours, but for freedom alone, which no good man loses but with his life"
--Scots nobles reply, under King Robert Bruce, to Pope John XXII in their "Declaration of
Arbroath" April, 1320




[This message has been edited by ICBentley (edited July 15, 2000).]
 
I enjoyed the movie immensely on the patriotic level as well as just good ol' entertainment.

I haven't seen the movie "Amistad" yet, except for a few minutes. Those minutes were moving. Some guy kept saying, "FREEDOM."

Isn't FREEDOM what all this is about? God help us to keep it, because I do believe we are the last nation on earth with enough FREEDOM TO keep it. (Hope that last line comes out right).
 
YES...YES...YES

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Sam I am, grn egs n packin

Nikita Khrushchev predicted confidently in a speech in Bucharest, Rumania on June 19, 1962 that: " The United States will eventually fly the Communist Red Flag...the American people will hoist it themselves."
 
My wife (who was born in Vietnam but attended primary & high school here in the States) and I went to see The Patriot this past weekend... she was appalled by many of the things in the movie, including kids with rifles, the killing of wounded soldiers, battle lines firing musket volleys at each other, the burning of farms, and the wholesale slaughter of civilians.

She thought it was Hollywood.

And she's not alone. A recent editorial in the Washington Times (http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/ed-column-2000717171732.htm) laments the apparent lack of interest in our own history.

I also saw the special on Braveheart and the revival of Scottish pride, resulting in the first Scottish Parliament in a century -- and have high hopes that The Patriot could have a similar affect on us.

Still... I had to explain it to my wife... who will explain it to the rest of the sheeple?
 
I wonder about Patriotism in general--someone said "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel"--dunno who.
Yet I am patriotic,and I am encouraged to be by the Govt and others.
It bothers me a little that we are constantly being told how well off and fortunate we are to live here--some evidence from other countries suggests that maybe they are doing better than us.Take Italy for instance--health education and welfare are much better than here (Australia)-Old folks can retire on 80% of the average wage--it's a lot less here.Maybe it's because they arse their Govt out every year?
Obviously we are heaps better off than many other countries--but are we as well off as we could be?Maybe our Govt could trim their selfish budgets and provide more real services for the communities that feed them?
 
The individual who told you that Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel is himself the scoundrel. Its a smear job:

Equate valid pride in a free and independent nation that operates the only proper government system (at least in concept) on earth with mindless nationalism.

The attempt there is to destroy a concept and make you feel guilty for the best within you.

Resist!

As to the Patriot, an image of heroism, valor and independence is so rare in our day and age that it is always a great thing to see. It could have sucked completely in execution and I would still have liked.

Mr. Gibson, thank you.

"If its big, old, and growls at you when it accelearates, stay the hell out of his way. He's a Fairlaner." Extensive modification of an ad in Playboy Magazine for the 1967 Ford Fairlane
 
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