Should Mel Gibson’s ‘The Patriot’ be Taught as True History?
Americans are conditioned to believe sanitized versions of history are accurate
There’s a movement going on in the United States that suggest schools shouldn’t teach the truth about slavery because it makes children “feel bad about themselves.” Oddly, the people behind this movement have no issue with religious sermons that insist these same children are “sinners.”
Those that say they prefer a narrative of American exceptionalism say they care about the self-esteem of students, but only in this one very specific scenario. They don’t care that children might “feel bad about themselves” because of bad grades, crippling student loans, or limited access to health care. But when it comes to the concept of sanitizing history, they beat their chest and say “think of the children!”
Convenient.
Lost in the debate is the question of what a “sanitized” version of history would actually look like.
Mel Gibson’s The Patriot released in the year 2000 seems to fit the bill. There’s plenty of flag waving and back-slapping and cries of “Freedom!” It’s the kind of movie you take your kids to see on the Fourth of July. It’s a film where everyone gets along well with each other, even the slaves are happy! You can point at it and say, “See! See! See! America was born perfect and has only gotten better since!”
Why should we waste time forcing our children to read books? Wouldn’t it be more efficient for them to watch The Patriot in history class? The film does a great job bringing the indoctrinated viewpoint of history that we want them to believe to life? We might as well burn all the books containing the contrary information that makes them feel bad.
And for anyone who says that The Patriot is a lie, well, since when has America ever cared about the truth?
The lie of American exceptionalism
From the first moment they draw breath, American children are told that they should feel fortunate to have been born in the greatest, most wonderful, most prosperous, and most egalitarian society that has ever existed. Only in America can a person come from nothing to achieve a…