Patriotic Films Open Thread

With Independence Day coming up, it’s time to revisit an interesting topic from the past: patriotic films. This is something we talked about when the blog first started and I think the article is worth revisiting.

You Say You Want A Revolution. . .

When I first began looking for patriotic films, I assumed there would be dozens of films about our founding. There weren’t. Hollywood has made fewer than a dozen films that deal with the American Revolution. The most famous of these are Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), The Howards of Virginia (1940), 1776 (a musical) (1972), Sweet Liberty (a comedy) (1969), Revolution (1985), and The Patriot (2000). Hardly an inspiring lot.

And this isn’t just an issue of recent Hollywood cynicism either. Even during Hollywood’s most patriotic era, between World War II and the early struggle against communism, few such films were made. Why?

Some say that audiences can’t sympathize with characters who wear powdered wigs and knee breeches, who use formal speech patterns and write with quills. But this hasn’t stunted the popularity of Shakespeare, or films about the British Kings and Queens, or even movies like Dangerous Liaisons or Sleepy Hollow. And surely civil war characters speak as formally and look as strangely. Not to mention, the public responded very well to the 2008 mini-series about John Adams. So why nothing about the founding?

I think there are two reasons why the founding rarely gets touched. For one thing, our founding isn’t very telegenic. The issues involved started in the 1730s, the war didn’t start until 1776, it lasted five years and didn’t really include a lot of American victories or much in the way of popular support. And even after the British surrendered, that still didn’t lead to our country, it led to the Confederated States, which took thirteen years to implode. That’s not a very attractive story to tell.

More importantly, our founding isn’t easy to characterize as one thing. As wrong as it may be historically, it’s easy to see the Civil War as being about slavery only. World War II was only about wiping out the Nazis. The Cold War was all about Khrushchev and Cuba. Vietnam was about Tet. And so on. In fact, every single historical period that gets a lot of play in Hollywood has been condensed down to one single theme, which appears over and over and over in those stories. What is the theme of our founding?

Everybody’s Got An Opinion. . .

Anyway, moving on, Blockbuster Video commissioned a poll a few years ago... before they died... which asked Americans what they wanted in their patriotic movies. Sixty-three percent wanted America or Americans portrayed as the underdogs. Forty percent felt that the President should be a main character. Thirty percent wanted the movie to involve a war hero. And here are the top ten movies they choose as patriotic films:

1. Independence Day
2. Born on the Fourth of July
3. Yankee Doodle Dandy
4. Air Force One
5. Forrest Gump
6. Glory
7. Patton
8. Apollo 13
9. The American President
10. The Longest Day

Meh. A patriotic film should make viewers feel good about being American. It should highlight their country at its best. It should put forth a vision as to the meaning of the country, particularly one such as ours, which was formed intellectually rather than by historical accident. We exist as a nation because our founders thought about how we should live, not because we all fell out of the trees together 50,000 years ago. The films above don’t really convey that all too well. For example:

Independence Day fits. This is a story of American resourcefulness and determination, of a group of average Americans that answer the call of duty to defeat an all-powerful enemy. This film reminds us of the promise of our country, the goodness of our people, and the greatness we can achieve as a nation. This film reminds us that Americans rise to meet all challenges and it highlights the self-sacrifice so often repeated in our history. I’ll tell you what though, I would substitute Battle: Los Angeles, which is a tribute to our military. It shows these people as the dedicated professionals they are who fight for love of country. Moreover, it’s not packed with the usual tropes about evil CIA types and suggestions that the most un-American of us will prove to be our saviors.

Born of the Fourth of July is a horrible choice. One wonders if people watched it, or just chose the title. Many people argue that a film can be patriotic if it rallies the country to a cause. Born on the 4th of July fits that category, as does All the President’s Men, which is also often named as a patriotic film. But rallying people to a cause smacks of propaganda, not patriotism. It is one thing to highlight the best in our country and to take pride in our achievements, it is quite another to suggest that people must adopt a certain position to be patriotic.

So let us substitute How The West Was Won. This sprawling epic tells the tale of how America grew from a small nation of eastern states to became the America that we know today. This movie shows the hardships they overcame and the sacrifices they made, and it does so without idealizing its characters. These people are quite real - some are good, some are bad, some are heroic, some are cowardly or rotten. Mistakes are made, but successes are had. And in the end, we see the American spirit writ large in the drive of our ancestors to always seek the better America that lies just over the next hill.

Air Force One is a popular movie, but it’s not an interesting one. The President fights terrorists. Ok, cool. But patriotic? Hardly. Below the surface, this is just an action movie. Remove the President and this becomes Die Hard 2.1. Let us substitute an equally unbelievable action movie, but one with much deeper patriotism: National Treasure. Sure, National Treasure is crawling with conspiracy theories and unbelievable secret societies and hidden puzzles and treasures, but that’s on the surface. Underneath, this movie reveres American history, our founders, and the words (and spirit) with which they founded our nation. And more importantly, the movie manages to pass that pride along to the audience.

Forrest Gump is not a patriotic movie, it is more of an historical curiosity. It is Dead Me Don’t Wear Plaid done seriously. Let’s substitute To Have And Have Not. To Have and Have Not finds Bogart living on the Vichy-French Island of Martinique. He is a symbol of America and Americans at the time. On the surface, he is neutral in the world, concerned primarily with his own business. But he is disturbed by what he sees around him. And beneath the surface, his strong moral code and deep-rooted patriotism, lead him to take a stand, at great personal risk, to do that which he knows to be right. This movie provides both an interesting view of how American attitudes and policy changed at the beginning of World War II, as Americans abandoned their isolationism and took a stand against tyranny, and it is a study in the classical view of American patriotism.

Glory was a good movie, but it was limited. A much better choice would be Gettysburg. Whereas Glory involved a small battle, Gettysburg involved the battle that transformed New Yorkers, Marylanders and Mainiacs into Americans. It also ensured that the Union would survive. Moreover, Gettysburg does something truly rare in film, it does a tremendous job of honoring both sides in the conflict by letting each side fairly explain their beliefs and by showing that both sides genuinely believed they were fighting for the good of their country. And in so doing, this movie makes us proud of both Northerners and Southerners, and it humbles us with what they endured for their beliefs. Glory kind of makes both sides seem rotten.

Patton is a popular choice, but Patton is the story of a man who considered himself something more than just an American and it comes across in this movie, as he is portrayed as an arrogant man who cares more for his own glory than his country or his men. Sergeant York is better choice. York is a pacifist who is called to action. He is humble, heroic and likable. He is the idealized American every-man. He makes us proud, just as he makes the people at home proud. And even better, everyone around him is portrayed positively as well. His fellow soldiers are brave, competent and honest. His family and friends are decent. Even when he is brought to the “big city,” the people he meets are neither shallow nor cynical. This movie represents the best that America has to offer.

The American President??? WTF? No, no, no, no. A movie about an American President who takes a sharp left turn when he falls in love with a lobbyist? In the immortal words of Sergeant Carter, you have got to be kidding me Pyle! How about Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. This story, about a naive and idealistic man appointed to the United States Senate, shows American government at its idealized best. As Smith discovers the shortcomings of the political process and fights his way through them, we are shown how good American government can be, when its participants act in good faith. It is a hopeful and patriotic film.

So after a little re-ranking for most patriotically inspiring, here is your Commentarama certified list:

1. Gettysburg
2. How The West Was Won
3. The Longest Day
4. Sergeant York
5. National Treasure
6. Battle: Los Angeles
7. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
8. To Have And Have Not
9. Apollo 13
10. Yankee Doodle Dandy

Thoughts? Additions?

Anyway, treat this as an open thread. We’ll be back next Tuesday.