Posted on 08/20/2008 1:52:36 PM PDT by baba123
The Patriot is an amalgam of historical information and I think it is OK for 8th graders.
PATRIOT was attacked because it showed a father handing guns to his young children so they could shoot at their fellow man....or so Liberals viewed it.
I’m guessing because there is no historical film of most of the actual events being taught about
Have they ever heard of history books? There are thousands of good ones. They can actually read while they are learning history.
Why are they watching movies in history?
The Patriot is full of historical inaccuracies.
The real Benjamin Martin, Francis Marion, had barbaric attitudes towards blacks by today’s standards.
Tavington, in real history Banaster Tarleton, and his Tory Legion wore all green uniforms. In the movie they wear red coats.
Cornwallis was not at the Battle of Cowpens. The British forces were lead by Tarleton. Also, Nathaniel Greene was not at that battle. The Rev forces were led by Daniel Morgan.
Agree 100%. The opening D-Day sequence is amazing. The rest of the film is very average.
Saving Private Ryan is not historically accurate after the first 20 minutes or so. Once the beach head is secure on Omaha the movie plot breaks from history and goes to story.
Far as violence goes I'd probably have a hard time showing Saving Private Ryan to even a lot of adults. It's that brutal, and that realistic. My late Grandfather said the only thing missing was the smell...if they can handle Ryan's violence though they should be able to handle any of the others.
You may consider The Longest Day instead of Saving Private Ryan. It's more historically accurate I think, the violence is still there of course, but it's 50's, 60's violence which is a lot tamer than even our current PG standards.
The Patriot also not historically accurate, but close enough. There is a few speeches that are worth noting, even if they are based on several real speeches.
Not sure on the accuracy of Glory, but it ranks on my "must see war movies" list, dealing with the Black infantry in the Civil War. Violence can be bloody at times, but since the movie was made in the 80's or early 90's again I think our current PG standards are worse in some cases.
We Were Soldiers - not bad - a little too John Waynish but not bad, the ending was not realsitic to what actually occurred
Saving Private Ryan - Very realistic portrayal of the effects of fire and the chaos of battle. The sobering fact though is as realistic as they tried to make it, the actuality of Omaha beach was even worse. That and Normandy in the movie was a surprisingly empty place for one squad of men to wander around in. But the uniforms equipment were excellent and historically accurate as they could make them. The chaos of combat were about as close as I've seen to the real thing on film.
I know this does not answer the question you asked, but the total run time of those movies will require about three full weeks of class to watch
Personally, I would question the overall quality of instruction much more than the content of the movies. If they feel they can just throw away three weeks of class time watching movies, it sounds, to me, like a dreadful school.
Indeed. I have seen We Were Soldiers, the Patriot and parts of Saving Private Ryan. They are nice tributes to Americans who exhibited valor when forced to go to war but I would call them more inspirational than eductional. Spending class time on them is better than watching an Al Gore or Michael Moore movie, but that is not much of an endorsement.
Sometimes these movies are edited for the classroom and they take out what they deem to be too bloody or controversial. They may have recorded edited versions from television.
As a history teacher both the Patriot and Saving Private Ryan have limited value to teaching about both WWII and the American Revolution.
There are far better documentaries out there that give far better information.
This is a lazy inaccurate way to do history. (It also teaches kids that movies represent reality) Unfortunately it also very popular these days. I had to home school history for my kid or he would have gotten this too.
The superstar is probably George C. Scott's Patton which does an absolutely credible job of sticking to the facts but still presenting them in a riveting fashion. Karl Malden who played second fiddle to Scott as General Omar Bradley does a better job than 99% of the talent in Hollywood today. Even the crude language shows some originality.
Nearly as good in accuracy, though not as entertaining is the Pearl Harbor film Tora! Tora! Tora! made not long after Patton. It is a sober, somber film which does a thoroughly decent job in showing both sides to the events which led up to the Pearl Harbor attack. While there are a couple of fictionalized subplots woven into the film to attract the low IQ crowd among movie goers, they are actually credible subplots which do not hijack accuracy, unlike the later box office hit Pearl Harbor which is almost totally worthless as a historical portrayal.
The Patriot: This one is not based on actual events, but by using composite characters does, I think, a good job of highlighting many of the sacrifices those who fought for our freedom made. It also dramatizes some of the personal conflicts that people were dealing with during that time.
Saving Private Ryan: Like others have said, the Normandy invasion is incredible. Again, you walk away with a better appreciation of the sacrifices those who came before us have made....for us.
I feel both of the movies show characters that were not warmongers...reluctant heroes if you will. The good guys did not glorify war, but had the fortitude to act for the right reason. Some of the real personal conflicts that I believe people went through play out in the characters.
Both are intense. My kids did not see them until High School, but these were some of the very few R movies I allowed. My youngest is now 17.
Why are they watching movies in history?
Most History teachers don't teach history anymore, they teach "Current Events" or they teach the liberal version of history that concludes every section with "And that is why America is wrong."
You mention books. That's funny. Most kids can't read today, at least not at the level that kids even 20 years ago could.
The reason you show movies is to show kids that history is real. It isn't some boring story in a boring book that they don't want to read.
It's real. It's real guns, real blood, real death and real consequences.
Good teachers today use whatever it takes to bring these mind numbed zombie survivors from modern elementary schools into real contact with the subjects they are teaching.
If that includes watching a movie at the start of a section, that's what they will do. Look at the movies, and you can see U.S. history in them:
The Patriot - U.S. Revolution
Glory - U.S. Civil War
Uprising and Private Ryan - WWII
We Were Soldiers - Vietnam
I can easily see how these movies could be used to introduce a section to kids and make them want to learn more about what they saw.
“except there wasnt enough boys crying for Momma while they lay wounded.”
That was the reason I turned the movie off after a few minutes, never to try and watch it again. All I could think of was those boys wanting their mother and yes, I do have a son, he’s 15 today. I absolutely cannot think of him in that situation.
My family was in upstate NY before and after Saratoga, served in the NY Militia, it was very nasty, and was nasty for quite awhile.
Kids need to read about history, in history book that are as accurate as possible. Not watch history via a movie produced and written by some screen writer that lives in Reseda or North Hollywood.
LOL...
Kids need to read about history, in history book that are as accurate as possible. Not watch history via some movie produced and written by some screen writer that lives in Reseda or North Hollywood.
Good Lord!
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