German filmmaker Roland Emmerich's second ultra-jingoistic movie about American independence, "The Patriot," plays a lot like an unofficial remake to Gibson's 1995 masterpiece "Braveheart," but without the whole being a good movie thing.
Mel Gibson plays a hatchet-wielding maniac named Benjamin Martin who uses the death of his son and the Revolutionary War as excuses to savagely butcher his victims without facing consequences. He also enters into a sexual relationship with his recently deceased wife's sister (played by Joely Richardson) who is willing to look the other way at his evil behavior.
Heath Ledger plays Mel Gibson’s oldest son who enlists in the Continental Army against his father's wishes. Then, when gets wounded in the line of duty, he takes refuge at his family's plantation, which ends up leading to the death of his 15-year-old brother who oddly still plays with toys.
Join us as we discuss why the movie insists that slavery barely existed in South Carolina back then, the transformation of racist Donal Logue and the decision to gather up the entire town of people that they made us care about and then burn them alive.
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This episode is sponsored by the City of Austin's proposed name change.
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