The film Braveheart directed and starred by Mel Gibson is based on the First War of Scottish Independence against England and is led by the Scottish warrior, William Wallace. This film depicts the life and the influence William Wallace had in 13th-century Scotland. Mel Gibson dramatizes the story so that the American audience will feel excitement and satisfaction with the film. Through the film’s inaccuracies’, Braveheart reveals the American view of masculinity, a desire for action and excitement over reality, importance of freedom and a desire to see the underdog. The film shows this with Edward II portrayed as a homosexual, the inaccuracies’ of battle scenes, and the inaccuracies with William Wallace’s upbringing.
Dr. Stanley Williams wrote the article “Braveheart’s Moral Premise and William Wallace’s Moment of Grace.” This article shows how the movie portrays William Wallace as a self-less human being willing to do anything for freedom. Sid Ray wrote “Hunks, History, and homophobia: Masculinity Politics in Braveheart and Edward II.” In this article the author discusses if perhaps William Wallace was fueled by proving his masculinity more than freedom for his country. This relates back to Dr. Stanley Williams article, where he believes that Wallace was influenced purely on attaining freedom for his country. Grame Morton wrote an article about the life and heritage of William Wallace. “The Most Efficacious Patriot: The Heritage of William Wallace in Nine-tenth-Century Scotland,” shows how Mel Gibson exaggerated scenes in the film to captivate American audiences. James Mackay wrote the book “William Wallace: Brave Heart” which tells the life of William Wallace and is used to show how the film Braveheart has many inaccuracies. T...
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... norms are clearly shown throughout the film and proves what American audiences truly value.
Works Cited
Braveheart. Dir. Mel Gibson. Prod. Mel Gibson. By Randall Wallace. Perf. Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, and Patrick McGoohan. Paramount Pictures, 1995.
Mackay, James A. William Wallace: Brave Heart. Edinburgh: Mainstream Pub., 1996. Print.
Morton, Graeme. "The Most Efficacious Patriot: The Heritage of William Wallace in Nineteenth-Century Scotland." Scottish Historical Review 204th ser. 77.2 (1998): 224-28. Print.
Ray, Sid. "Hunks, History, and Homophobia: Masculinity Politics in Braveheart and Edward II." Film & History 29.3/4 (1999): 22-31. Print.
Ross, A. "Wallace's Monument and the Resumption of Scotland." Social Text 18.4 65 (2000): 83-107. Print.
Williams, Stanley D. "BRAVEHEART'S Moral Premise and William Wallace's Moment of Grace." (2006): n. pag. Print.
In “The Thematic Paradigm,” University of Florida professor of film studies, Robert Ray, defines two types of heroes pervading American films, the outlaw hero and the official hero. Often the two types are merged in a reconciliatory pattern, he argues. In fact, this
In the article “The Thematic Paradigm” exerted from his book, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, Robert Ray provides a description of the two types of heroes depicted in American film: the outlaw hero and the official hero. Although the outlaw hero is more risky and lonely, he cherishes liberty and sovereignty. The official hero on the other hand, generally poses the role of an average ordinary person, claiming an image of a “civilized person.” While the outlaw hero creates an image of a rough-cut person likely to commit a crime, the official hero has a legend perception. In this essay, I will reflect on Ray’s work, along with demonstrating where I observe ideologies and themes.
Eichler, Leah. "Alistair MacLeod: Of Scotsmen in Canada." The Publishers Weekly 247.17 (2000): 54. Print.
In No Great Mischief, Alistair MacLeod proves to the reader that it is impossible to talk about the Scottish-Canadian heritage without mentioning tradition, family and loyalty. MacLeod wrote this book about loyalty to family tradition. It is common to talk about these three things when one describes his family or his past in general, but in this book, MacLeod has included every single intricate detail about each one of the three aspects.
...ow the audience to visualize the event and becomes more relatable. Listeners are able to emotionally identify with the situation and reflect in order to give other the benefit of the doubt. The speech could be improved with more facts or statistics. Wallace uses rhetorical devices to create his argument, which could be seen as ironic due to his death. He attempted to influence others but struggled with an everyday battle that he could not overcome. His approach to life is understood, but maintaining that approach proves to be difficult. Through the use of dramatization and figurative language, Wallace is able to appeal the audience and leave them with the idea that, “It is about simple awareness—awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, that we have to keep reminding ourselves, over and over: ‘This is water, this is water’”.
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend,” this single quote by the newspaper editor Maxwell Scott (Carlton Young), utters throughout the whole film on what Ford is trying to get across. The whole film tells of a lively era that is so deep in the roots of American history, but we seem to lose sight of that in the here and now. The standard critical approach to Liberty Valance has been to emphasize the contrasts between its two worlds, the old and the new, and to characterize it as celebrating the mythic western frontier and remember its passing by the industrialized times it had to give in to. John Ford brought back that view in his westerns, and although it was the last film with the duo of Ford and Wayne, it can now be referred to as a classical tale of fact and legend.
Within the very beginning of the film, the wonderful portrayal of William by Billy Crudup gives the audience a lasting impression by Burton of the blatant resentment and distain William has towards his father and his mythological stories. Wallace, while more subtle in his method to reveal the underlying anger of William towards Edward, does not make it any less apparent than Burton of the obvious indifference William feels towards his father. In Burton’s ...
Beauvoir says that everyone is free, but how one approaches their freedom is often irrational and/or paradoxical. Few men are ‘truly’ free and can firmly grasp reality, glorifying themselves as well as others. Beauvoir offers five types of men who are dishonest about their perception of their freedom. These men develop what Beauvoir calls bad faith. The sub-man, serious man, the nihilist, the adventurer, and the passionate man. These types of men are all around us and are often portrayed in movies. This analysis will evaluate the adventurer’s attitude. We shall see under what circumstances a young adventurer declares himself free and explore how he manages his new insight. While Beauvoir claims this man is close to morality, the adventurer is pretentious and ultimately turns into his tyrannical enemy.
Ellison, Ralph. "Battle Royal." Literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, and drama. 9th ed and Interactive ed. Eds. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005. 555-566.
What Stone points out that is very interesting and relevant to western culture is that the Indo-Europeans were always in continual conflict with not only the people of the lands that they invaded but between themselves as well. In Braveheart, the Irish and English were in conflict with each other and the English took over Ireland, both the Irish and English live in filth, in cottages where they raise their family, the men provide for their family and the woman are married off so they can find a man to provide for them, they are barbaric the way they live and the way they are perceived, this film also shows the patriarchal society and the misogyny ways of the Europeans and how they treat their women the king even made a law allowing their men to take and rape the Irish women even if they were married, the women had no say the kings son who was next in line to be on throne was gay and had to marry a woman to reproduce but the woman had no say and was not respected or shown in a powerful light. The main character William Wallace made his childhood love at night because he feared would tried to take her if they found out about the marriage and even still one of the English
For more than three hundred years, Scotland has been an active member of a union with Wales, England and Northern Ireland but recently this partnership has come under threat due to nationalist views from a group of deluded self-serving failed councillors better known as the SNP. The ideals of these individuals threaten the very fabric of this hub of culture and enterprise that we know and love as Scotland. With the tricentennial anniversary of union, the idea of Scottish independence has again come up for fierce debate. How, I ask myself, did Alex Salmond and his nationalist cronies manage to concoct such a specious solution to Scotland's problems? A question easily answered: on the basis of false, misinterpreted and corrupt data.
There will be Blood is an all American epic historical film that gained critical praise and received numerous awards. What was it that made this film what it is today? Could it be the exceptional performance of Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, the work of the writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson. Or did it all come from the novel it was inspired by, Upton Sinclair’s Oil? What actually made this film so remarkable was the carefully chosen symbolism that ties that whole story together. Paul Andersons precise use of characterization and the detailed development of the setting creates a sparse and sprawling epic about the underhanded "heroes" of capitalism.
Inglourious Bastards. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Perf. Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz. The Weinstein Company, 2009. DVD.
William Wallace had a book called “The Wallace” that was the second most popular book in Scotland after The Bible ( BBC- history).
The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland by Andrew Wyntoun is a 14th century account of Scotland stemming from the beginning of the world until the accession of James I in 1424. In chapter CXLV, as most chroniclers do, Wyntoun first introduces Wallace as the younger son of a noble with an elder brother who inherited the family property . Wyntoun brings to attention Wallace’s stature and aptitude for weaponry: