Well, I went to see the Patriot. To tell you the truth I have been sorting out my feelings ever since. It truly was a great movie. It drew me in to the point that when I left the theater and went back to the real world, I felt like I'd been dropped into an alien environment. For me it was almost a chore to go back to reality. As it was when I saw Saving Private Ryan, I kept thinking of the sacrifice those ancestors made for freedom. They laid it all on the line for what they believed in. And yet as I contemplated the decision the main character had to make, I was struck with how difficult it must have been to leave home and family and not only put oneself in danger, but one's family. What are the causes that make a man do that. In our day and age war is so sanitized. We send our boys off to some distant land and it never comes to visit our little world. Parents lose their children, and still life trudges on with most people unaffected. It is so much easier to abide the erosian of freedom rather than to attempt to stop it. It is hard to count the cost of the loss of freedom when one sit's in the comfort of home and family. The main character in the Patriot struggled with this also. He struggled with how to leave hearth and family and become what he once was, a man of war. How much more difficult it is for those who have never known war to commit to such a cause. The question that came up for me was when is the cost of waiting for change to happen on it's own higher than the cost of acting. When is one's security less important than one's cause. I have no answers to this question. I sometimes wish I could pick apart history and find the motivations of men's hearts. The nice thing about this movie was there was no pure hearts involved. All the characters shared the guilt of their own sins. How much more lifelike can you get than that. I tell you it was also great to see his farm before the war. It looked like one of our homesteads.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@calinet.com), July 22, 2000

Answers

Did you realize this movie was rated R? I did not know that when I went to see it. I am now trying to figure out why. No sex, no obscene language, and brief violence. Is patriotism an R rated subject these days? Why does Patriot get an R rating and something like Mission Impossible 2 get a PG 13 when it is filled with sex and graphic gratuitous violence?

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), July 23, 2000.

Haven't seen it, but I expect the best thing about it would be the Australian leading man ;->

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 23, 2000.

I too enjoyed The Patriot. Refreshing to see the revolutionaries portrayed as fallible humans. They are too often depicted as being almost god-like. This movie was loosely based on the life of Francis Marion of South Carolina. They were going to use his name for the lead role until people complained about what a seedy character Marion was. Despite being a Revolutionary War commander, he enjoyed raping his slaves and going on Indian hunts. Yes, they tracked them down and shot them for sport. I will reserve judgement on Francis Marion. I owe a portion of my freedom to him.

-- Jim (catchthesun@yahoo.com), July 23, 2000.

I heard that Patriot got the R rating because the younger teenage sons of the hero shot English soldiers which didn't make sense to me. What about the British officer shooting a kid in the back or murdering a woman and 6 year old boy.

It was a thought provoking movie, sure enough, but I didn't need to see battlefield dismemberment at close range. Then I never saw any blood in The Godfather. I'd read the book and knew when to unfocus my eyes!

Nitpicking, but I sure thought the black Great Dane was female. If "Cornwallis" couldn't tell a boy from a girl, maybe he deserved to lose-JOKE. Bad joke, for which I apologize.

Don, if memory serves, the "Australian" leading man was born in the States.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), July 23, 2000.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't wars violent? We wondered why the R-rating. We just saw it this afternoon, and thought it was a great movie. We rarely go to a movie, but after reading the responses on this and the other thread, I knew I'd appreciate it. I think it shows what a lot of Americans have forgotten about-How hard people fought for this country. My favorite scene was when Ben came riding up carrying the American flag past all those soldiers. Since I'm not good at words, I'll just say Little Bit said exactly what I was thinking, esp. the real world part.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), July 23, 2000.

Marilyn - well, yes, bt his mother was Australian, and the whole family had to come here to live. We had the raising of him, and this was where he was trained to act.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 23, 2000.

Marilyn, As a great dane person I can tell you that the great dane e- group's list has been talking about this movie from that perspective. Turns out that a list member knows the owners of the danes and they actually had a stand-in, one dog was female and the other male. One of the stand-ins also had his coat died to match the main dog. Some scenes you can see a female and some a male. Just thought I would clarify that little piece although you and I are probably the only ones on this list that want to know the details. LOL

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), July 24, 2000.

I took my boys to see this movie and I've been thinking about it ever since. Deep philisophical thoughts. The kind that come when weeding the garden etc. My ancestors fought in that war, and this helped to bring home to me what a committment that was. Imagine leaving your homestead and letting it revert to wilderness while you fight for an idea. An very strange and new idea. I think this movie speaks to a lot of people on a lot of levels. The lastest issue of The Smithsonian magazine has a very interesting article on the movie. Seems the producers wanted the movie to be as accurate as possible without destroying the storyline. Mel Gibson arrived a month early to learn important skills such as making bullets. It is interesting to see how important freedom is to homesteaders. It seems that we, as a group, understand and feel strongly about a subject that many only think about on the Fourth of July. Thought provoking.

-- Cheryl Cox (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), July 28, 2000.