Roland Emmerich's The Patriot

Today, films are made for entertainment purposes and are never completely accurate. With that being said, there are several scenes and events that take place in The Patriot (2000) that are not historically accurate. The director of the film, Roland Emmerich, helps give an idea of what the War of Independence was like in 1776. The producers of The Patriot include Dean Devlin, Gary Levinsohn, and Mark Gordon. They avoid much of the important aspects of the war other than the fact that the colonies are fighting to become an independent nation. The film is made for the audience to be more entertained and the creators make it clear who the hero and the villains are. Benjamin Martin, played by Mel Gibson, is the main protagonist in the film. He is …show more content…
Initially, he decided to avoid fighting for the Continental Army so that he could protect his family. However, he is forced to fight in the revolution when the British threaten to take his farm. Although Martin is a hero and a man of great character in the film, his character was based on Francis Marion. Marion was known to have slaves and he “mistreated his slaves through beatings and rape” (Patriot Resource). The film avoids showing the whole truth, making him seem as if he was this courageous and brave man fighting for the independence and rights of all Americans. In reality, Marion had slaves and he mistreated them. Showing the man he really was would not make him the hero they want to portray him as to the …show more content…
Although Martin treated the slaves very well and freed many of them in the film, that was not that case for the character he was based off of. In reality, Marion, the character he was based on, was known to have owned slaves that he assaulted and raped. Slavery was also nonexistent in the film, when in reality it was an important aspect of the war. South Carolina is a Southern state that had an enormous amount of slaves and slave owners. The film steered away from that and acted as if the slaves were free to work on the farm or not. According to Spike Lee, “for three hours The Patriot dodged around, skirted about or completely ignored slavery” (Webley). Colonel Tavington even told the slaves to join the British army. He told them “if they joined the crown that they would be freed.” The slaves responded saying that they were already free even though they worked on the plantations and in Martin’s home. It is necessary to show the brutality of slavery at this time in history because of how vital a role they played in the American