Leaderships in the Two Films the Patriot and Glory

¶ … popular films, The Patriot and Glory to discuss and evaluate leadership illustrations. The writer focuses on the leadership qualities in each film. The writer then explores the differences and similarities between the two especially when it comes to leadership. There were six sources used to complete this paper.

Most movie goers will agree that the silver screen productions that they go to view have a theme. The theme may be obvious and blatant, or the theme can be nothing more than an undertone that runs through the storyline. The themes are not always evidenced immediately, but are savored only after one has been able to enjoy the film and digest its more obvious elements and truths. Two popular movies provide a theme of leadership. Leadership is a broad-based topic of discussion in many arenas today, as it is possible to display and recognize leadership in many different ways. Leadership is a trait that some people seem to be born with while others learn it as they come through the ranks of life. The movies Glory and The Patriot both provide front row seats to the topic of war. The movies each portray fight scenes, choosing sides and other elements that are typical of war. They also allow the viewer to see multiple facets of leadership. As the viewer watches the two movies the viewer will notice that there are many similarities in the way leadership is shown in each of the stories, while there are also undeniable differences. It is the differences more than the similarities that outline and strengthen the concept of leadership and its meaning in each of the two films.

Whether or not movies can teach history is a debate that has raged since the film industry's infancy. "In 1995, Richard Bernstein wrote a piece for the New York Times entitled "Can Movies Teach History?" Noting that "more people are getting their history, or what they think is history, from the movies these days than from the standard history books," he then asked, does "the filmmaker, like the novelist, have license to use the material of history selectively and partially in the goal of entertaining, creating a good dramatic product, even forging what is the sometime called the poetic truth, a truth truer than the literal truth?" In other words, "does it matter if the details are wrong if the underlying meaning of events is accurate (The Patriot and Glory http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/00/patriot.html)?"

In Glory the topic of leadership is centered around the existence of racism and what goes along with it. The movie is based in the all black regiment in the Civil War. At first glance one will assume that the question of leadership is founded in the fact that Robert Shaw begins to climb the ranks, when in civilian life he would be relegated to the position of servant or slave. The fact that he is a leader in the regiment, is secondary to the fact that he is a leader to a black regiment in the Civil War, which was heavily involved in the decision to abolish slavery.

The attitude changes that are witnessed throughout the course of the movie storyline provides a strong message to the viewer about the leadership within the movie.

The attitude towards blacks were confronted head on by the characters and the events of this movie. The leadership is not only seen in the actions of Shaw in leading the black men to victories and protecting them during crisis, but also about the attitudes of the black men themselves who were fighting to protect a nation that considered them equal to dogs.

This was illustrated in several areas of the movie including the advise on how to deal with the racism being encountered on the field of war.

Having been repulsed repeatedly by the slaves, one of the Scythians admonishes his fellows to set aside their weapons and take up horsewhips. "As long as they are used to seeing us with arms, they think that they are our equals and that their fathers are likewise our equals. Let them see us with whips instead of arms, and they will learn that they are our slaves; and, once they have realized that, they will not stand their ground against us (The Patriot and Glory http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/00/patriot.html)."

The leadership of the regiment was constantly fraught with years of attitude toward the very men protecting those with the beliefs. The southerners at the time believed that black people were born to serve. The movie characters were supposed to shed that life and acceptance of that attitude, and become a lean fighting machine.

At the time of the Civil War, most Southerners believed that blacks were naturally servile. But there was doubt about their manly spirit in the North as well. In the movie, a reporter from Harper's Monthly says to Matthew Broderick's Col. Shaw, "will they fight? A million readers want to know." To which Shaw replies, "a million and one," illustrating the fact that in 1863, even elite New England abolitionists had their doubts about the manliness of blacks (The Patriot and Glory http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/00/patriot.html)."

By inaccurately depicting the 54th as a regiment of former slaves, Glory reveals the deeper truth that blacks in general were not the natural slaves that Southerners believed them to be and that abolitionists feared that they might be. "Who asks now in doubt and derision, 'Will the Negro fight?'" observed one abolitionist after the assault of the 54th against Battery Wagner. "The answer is spoken from the cannon's mouth...it comes to us from...those graves beneath Fort Wagner's walls, which the American people will never forget (The Patriot and Glory http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/00/patriot.html)."

In the movies called the Patriot there was an entirely different portrayal of leadership. In this movie the character of Mel Gibson did not support the war, though his son wanted to go.

The deeper truth of this movie was well stated by David Horowitz. The Patriot, he writes, "reassembles the elements of the national myth into a powerful homage to liberty and to the American colonists who gave their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to its cause." The Revolutionary generation, after all, fought not only for its own freedom but also for that of all the generations to follow (The Patriot and Glory http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/00/patriot.html)."

Another interesting point of leadership within these two movies is the fact that they are both about men who do not initially believe in what they are called to do. While this is not at first obvious it will become so with a second examination. In the movie Glory Shaw is not at first enthralled with having to lead a regiment of black soldiers. He has to deal with the attitude not only of those above him but also with the attitudes of the black soldiers themselves. He has to eventually face his own demons and prejudices so that he can be the best leader possible. This is something that also happens with the movie the Patriot. The lead character, played by Mel Gibson, has no initial desire to support the war. His enthusiasm or lack of it is significantly similar to the lack of enthusiasm shown by Shaw in Glory. Gibson is against the idea of fighting the war, and Shaw is against the idea of having to lead black men into battle.

As the movies continue to unfold one will note that the attitudes of the leaders themselves begin to change. In the Glory movie the attitude of Shaw changes through the observance of the things that happen both on the battle field and in the barracks. Many elements of life with the regiment begin to show Shaw the error of his earlier attitudes. Even when he has a positive feeling about the work he is called to do he has to wrestle with a lifetime of messages that he and others endured regarding the motivations and ambitions of black men. In a similar fashion the character played by Mel Gibson has to come to grips with some of the beliefs he has held onto for a very long time. Becoming part of the war was not something he was willing to do until his son insisted on joining.

Both of these stories center in the belief that leadership qualities were born of necessity.

The character played by Gibson becomes a leader in the desire to save his son. Until his son wanted to go to war Gibson had no desire to entertain the idea of being a soldier. Shaw, in Glory, also didn't become a great leader until he needed to be one.

The loss of his son prompts Gibson's character to join the fight. "He's reluctant to fight because of what he did as a younger man, in the French and Indian War some 15 to 20 years previous. Though he's tormented by his vicious deeds during that violent period, he came out a hero to other men, who continue to "buy him drinks" when they have the chance. We don't witness such moments but, once he "gets over it" and joins the battle, the action part of the movie takes off. His obvious leadership makes all the difference to the men of the community who must join the fight that affects them and their families so personally. This was a fight amidst the homes and farms of the cities and countryside (The Patriot and Glory http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/00/patriot.html).

In this neighbor to neighbor struggle, with the British bent on preventing rebel independence in the America of 1776, staging great field battles that have the rebel forces greatly outnumbered and out-armed, Martin begins a campaign of quick, devastating raids on British supply lines and units -- the classic offense against a superior force (Chechens against Russia?). Never having seen such strategy before, the British call him the "ghost" because of the way he and his men appear, destroy, and fade into the brush. But the true identity of this ghost is eventually disclosed by an ex-neighbor fighting with the redcoats (The Patriot and Glory http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/00/patriot.html)."

Martin's eldest son, Gabriel, (Heath Ledger) who preceded his father into battle, becomes one of his lieutenant alongside Tcheky Karyo in a nice performance as Jean Villeneuve, the French officer promising that his country will indeed show up to help them fight the British.

The villains are rendered with the simplistic brush of caricature in the form of Colonel Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson), who actually led his regiment into South Carolina and was far more brutal than this effete and elitist portrayal would have us believe. And, while he had a protege in 2nd lieutenant Tarleton, "The Patriot" creates for us the far more sinister and evil Colonel Tavington (Jason Isaacs), a fictional character contrived as a much more ideal (hissable) movie villain. The Revolutionary War is personified in the revenge story between the heroic and virtuous Martin and this sadistic sociopath.

Another departure from historical accuracy is the role blacks had in the Revolutionary War. Despite their ready acceptance by both sides in the movie, they did not serve as fighting men in South Carolina army units, although they did in the navy.

Despite historical innacuracies, "The Patriot" serves to remind us of our history and of the brutalities out of which a nation was born and shaped. Americans never could accept being subjects. That's why they landed here and built the land we call home. It's become so comfortable and free of tyrants that we tend to disregard the origins of the journey. It takes entertainment like this to put the subject in our path and, perhaps, inspire some gratitude for what got us started.

At 2 hours and 38 minutes, the story might have been better realized with a trim of 20 to 30 minutes, though afficionados of this kind of movie and of Mel Gibson, might well argue for the extra time on the basis of the epic scale of the story.

Chris Cooper pulls off his trademark naturalness as Colonel Harry Burwell, Martin's battlefield superior, and Joely Richardson devotedly plays the adoring and dutiful Charlotte Selton, sister of Martin's dead wife. Roland Emmerich directed; Robert Rodat ("Saving Private Ryan") devised the screenplay which does its work without obvious digital "effects," sex or serious swearing.

Estimated cost: $110,000,000. Projected U.S. boxoffice: $115,000,000.

Rated S, for Service to country.

GLORY

http://www.epinions.com/content_65471680132

Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

The movie "Glory" was a movie about the civil war and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. This movie showed the hardships the soldiers had and how they overcame them. It shows the relationships between the captain and his soldiers. In this movie, it really showed how the civil war was really like. In the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, you could see that blacks weren't treated as equally as white. The union wanted to change that in the war.

The soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment faced many hardships in this movie. Some of the hardships they had to face were the insults from the whites, the crowded tents, the low pay and the way other white soldiers thought about them. The insults from the whites I think really hurt them the most. The were being put down by the whites and being told they can never be good soldiers like the whites were. These insults made an impact on the blacks and made them even more determined to fight. Another hardship they had was they had to sleep in crowded tents. These tents had about 5 to 6 blacks in one. These sleeping conditions were hard and sometimes diseases could be spread about in a tent. It made it hard to sleep and move in the tent without bumping into someone else. Another hardship they had to face was the low pay they were going to be paid. Instead of thirteen dollars, they only got ten dollars because they were black. They overcame this hardship by saying they would not take the pay because they were just as good as the whites. The overcame the insults by making those insults into determination. They had to deal with the crowding of the tents. In the beginning of the movie, they didn't even have shoes. The captain was told by many soldiers that they needed shoes, and they got it.

The relationship between Captain Robert Shaw and his soldiers were very similar in this movie. This is true because they wanted to fight for a free, united country. They wanted to fight for the same reason. Robert Shaw loved his soldiers and admired them in the way they worked. The soldiers loved the captain because he thought a lot like them. When the blacks all refused to get lower pay, the captain stood up and said if they don't get equal pay, then no one gets any pay. The captain would do anything for his soldiers, even act like them. The soldiers requested shoes for their marching, and Robert was determined to get them. He almost gave up his job to get these shoes for his soldiers. They all fought together and went down as one army.

The way this relationship was not typical in this era was that in this movie, whites were getting along with the blacks. The captain was getting along with his black soldiers and not having any problems with them. Usually in this era, the whites did not get along with the blacks. The captain and his soldiers got along together like they were the same race. This time in history, they were fighting for the cause of slavery and to free the blacks. This was the relationship that was not typical during this era.

The Battle scenes in this movie were great. Just imagine yourself being in the battlefield, right next to the sergeant. That's how real it was. The special effects of the firing looked astonishing. It really showed the pain and grief the soldiers went through when fighting for what they thought was right.

The movie Glory was a movie about the civil war and how the soldiers were treated. It showed the hardships they faced, and the relationships between each other. It showed the respect they had for each other.

Glory http://www.destgulch.com/movies/glory/

This 1989 movie is, in my opinion, the best Civil War picture ever made. The story is largely seen through the eyes of Robert Gould Shaw, the young commanding officer of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The Fifty-fourth was the first black regular army regiment in the Civil War.

Robert Gould Shaw was born in Boston on October 10, 1837. He died in action during the assault on Confederate Battery Wagner on July 18, 1863. He was born into a wealthy Boston family to abolitionist parents. The Shaws associated with such people as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe and famed orator Frederick Douglass who helped form the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts. His sons Lewis and Charles joined the regiment.