Historical films play an important role in communication and society as a whole. They are spaces of remembrance that allow people to connect with the past, understand it more deeply, and make sense of their present realities. Historical films often serve up grand stories that tap into larger national narratives, helping viewers understand social or political truths hidden beneath layers of distraction or indoctrination. Pierre Nora views films as a form of visual art that plays an essential role in social communication. She argues that these forms of media “make a significant contribution to the construction, maintenance or destruction” of memory (Nora, 1989). The film can be seen as means for history to destroy collective memory over time through its denigration process. It serves as a platform that allows those events deemed harmful by one cultural group towards another to be preserved while simultaneously erasing positive attributes from public consciousness memories. In the film The Patriot (2000), Roland Emmerich depicts history inaccurately to create a positive picture for individuals who fought for America, but it destroys its historical relevance.
The Patriot presents the Revolutionary War as a rousing and entertaining event contrary to its actual state. The Patriot presents the Revolutionary War as an exciting spectacle with theatrical heroes and grand battles (Emmerich 2000). In contrast to its actual state of destruction, death, and torture, it is portrayed in a heroic light that appeals more widely to viewers. According to Nora (1989), historical memory can be destroyed by forgetting or even through history itself. Films provide an embodiment for such hard-to-document histories, providing reflections from different angles and allowing people to remember without being present when events unfolded themselves. As a rousing and entertaining event, the Patriot presentation of the Revolutionary War challenges reality, ultimately taking away from people’s memories of what happened during this period. Instead, presenting an altered version blurs the visceral events that made up important aspects of its history. The Patriot shows how history’s actions can cloud good remembrance of society’s shared pasts by manipulating elements such as time, space, oral tradition, and symbolic representation.
The film focuses on entertaining aspects instead of historical accuracy or remembrance of those impacted by war negatively. Eric Foner’s book Give Me Liberty accounts the American Revolution as a more nuanced picture that needs to be considered when depicting how Native Americans and African people were treated unfairly due to matters related to the causes of war, like freedom and revolution (Foner 2017). Despite such concerns, The Patriot depicts these issues from an entertainment perspective rather than emphasizing educating viewers about them or paying tribute to those adversely affected by wars, contrary to what would have been expected according to Foner’s portrayal of America Revolutionary War era (Emmerich 2000). This depiction overlooks important considerations, such as historical accuracy or remembrance of those negatively impacted by war. According to Nora (1989), history destroys memory because such films depict history through an erasure of memories associated with traumatic events due to oversimplification. This leads to skewed analysis on specific subjects, intentionally or unintentionally, leading us away from accurately memorializing these forgotten experiences, creating gaps in our knowledge base moving forward.
The Patriot portrays and advocates for values that America has been fighting against throughout history, such as stereotypes. The film portrays British soldiers as either gentlemanly fops or sadistic monsters in contrast to Americans, who are presented largely as brave and braver than their European counterparts (Emmerich 2000). These representations do not do justice to all those involved, nor does it advocate for any values that the patriots fought for during this period. This highlights Pierre Nora’s argument that history tends to destroy memory by clouding the audience’s perception with one-sided interpretations that fail to reflect different perspectives and themes around an event accurately. This kind of aspect can have adverse consequences. Such misrepresentations can lead us away from understanding true historical events without proper knowledge about them, which makes the audience take what they see instead of being critical readers making individual educated judgments about past events based on conclusive evidence, not limited stories like ones told by movies (Nora, 1989). Film narratives ascertain knowledge investments accrued in any culture while embedding relevant stereotypes associated with them into preconceived notions already had by viewers.
In conclusion, The Patriot by Roland Emmerich provides an inaccurate depiction of history in a bid to paint a positive picture for individuals who fought for America. The film inaccurately and simplifies historical events in order to make a positive portrayal of revolutionaries who fought for America. This method results in an unrealistic representation of history which destroys its true aspects concerning memory. This departs from the principles of academic historical research, thus blurring memories that would otherwise be remembered differently. By misrepresenting certain aspects of patriotism and glorifying war-time actions during American Revolution, this movie reflects Nora’s argument that “history destroys memory.” Consequently, it is important to consider true historical events when creating films, as audiences usually need to know how much liberties were taken with thematic appropriations while crafting their stories.
Bibliography
Emmerich, Roland. 2000. “The Patriot.” Vudu.com. https://www.vudu.com/content/movies/details/The-Patriot/16602.
Foner, Eric. 2017. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Volume 1, to 1877. 5th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Nora, Pierre. 1989. “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire.” Representations, no. 26: 7–24.
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