Film II: Proustitution

But it is really American anti-Americans who must feel the most aggrieved, because the film honors what is to the Left that great moment of original sin: the American Founding. The Patriot’s heroes are the very dead white males who have lately been purged from so much of the historical record. The American patriots in this film are decent and likeable and have the courage of their convictions. Racism is not the North Star of their existence, and greed is not the dominant theme of their lives. In other words, The Patriot propounds a view of the American Revolution not found in most college syllabuses.

Not surprisingly, the film has already become a political flashpoint. A preview audience in L.A. was reportedly horrified by the depiction of Martin’s young boys shooting and killing British soldiers (“Aim for the officers,” is Dad’s advice). Surely, muttered many a Hollywood liberal, a scene like this should have been avoided in the wake of Columbine. But Gibson defended the scene, saying he took his own kids shooting. And reports of Hollywood’s dismay brought Second Amendment partisans to Gibson’s side even before the movie opened. “I highly recommend this movie to any and all conservatives,” wrote Nicholas Sanchez, a columnist for the Free Congress Foundation. “No, I have not yet seen it. But from what I have read, it is already upsetting people that need to be upset.”

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John Simon

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But it is really American anti-Americans who must feel the most aggrieved, because the film honors what is to the Left that great moment of original sin: the American Founding. The Patriot’s heroes are the very dead white males who have lately been purged from so much of the historical record. The American patriots in this film are decent and likeable and have the courage of their convictions. Racism is not the North Star of their existence, and greed is not the dominant theme of their lives. In other words, The Patriot propounds a view of the American Revolution not found in most college syllabuses.

Not surprisingly, the film has already become a political flashpoint. A preview audience in L.A. was reportedly horrified by the depiction of Martin’s young boys shooting and killing British soldiers (“Aim for the officers,” is Dad’s advice). Surely, muttered many a Hollywood liberal, a scene like this should have been avoided in the wake of Columbine. But Gibson defended the scene, saying he took his own kids shooting. And reports of Hollywood’s dismay brought Second Amendment partisans to Gibson’s side even before the movie opened. “I highly recommend this movie to any and all conservatives,” wrote Nicholas Sanchez, a columnist for the Free Congress Foundation. “No, I have not yet seen it. But from what I have read, it is already upsetting people that need to be upset.”