When I was in my teen years, I watched the iconic Revolutionary War film, The Patriot, for the sake of the action, adventure, and entertainment. Now, as a (hopefully) more mature adult, I have come to appreciate the movie in a different way.
Heath Ledger’s performance as the eldest Martin son, Gabriel, is excellent. Absolutely excellent. In fact, I think his character is underrated –perhaps even overlooked – in comparison to the somewhat flashy drama and heroics of Mel Gibson. Yes, Gibson has been highly praised for the film. His face is on all the promotional movie posters. It’s even been termed “Mel Gibson’s Movie”. So naturally, when we think of The Patriot, we think of Gibson brandishing his tomahawk. Or of the part when he dashes out of his burning house, loaded down with rifles and powder horns.
But forget all that. Let’s talk about Gabriel.
We first see Gabriel as a young man working in the fields of the family plantation. We watch him mature into a man of principle, integrity, and honor. Along the way, we learn that he is sometimes at odds with his domineering father (Gibson), and is chewing at the bit for a greater sense of personal independence.
Add to that the nation is at war, and Gabriel and his father are fighting together. They must learn to cope with one another in order to accomplish things and to further the Patriot cause. Working under his father is not what he’d wanted, but Gabriel bears it silently and doesn’t bear a grudge. Instead, he makes it work, and shows support for his father, even in this atmosphere of discord. Gabriel has committed himself to serving in any capacity quietly, as best he can.
The virtues that most stand out in his character? He is noble, kind, slow to anger, and most apparently of all (and hardest of all), he is humble. He is also respectful, and thus is respected. I’ve heard someone say that two things you have to give away to get are trust and respect. Gabriel models this statement. Make no mistake about it: He is a quiet man of action, but he isn’t less brave than his father. Not at all.
Yet, Gabriel isn’t bloodthirsty or vicious. He steps up, and sticks up, for his values, including humanity, mercy, and justice – even toward the enemy. Take the scene in the film when the Patriot militia have won a skirmish and the remaining British attempt to surrender. Some of the more revengeful Patriots ignore the pleas of the enemy, and slaughter them anyway. It is Gabriel who steps up, shouting in righteous indignation, “We are better men than that!” His genuine sense of justice makes an impression on the men. Ashamed, they stop immediately.
Gabriel is always the first to step in as peacemaker. He doesn’t hold on to petty spite, nor does he let anger control his decisions. His actions are backed by his principles. He disagrees respectfully and solidly, not loudly and clamorously. This is one of his most noticeable qualities. (Compare this to the angry and often spiteful infighting of the comments we see plastered on social media.) And Gabriel does it all without coming across as effeminate or pathetically meek. That’s important, too.
So, who’s the real “Patriot” of the film? I’ll let you decide that for yourself. Maybe the answer comes when Gabriel Martin’s father admits to the villain at the very end, “You’re right. My sons were better men.”
In closing, I want to say encouragingly that America could use some more Gabriel Martins. This doesn’t mean we have to go back to horseback riding, powder horns, and fifes and drums. It simply means, as Josiah Gilbert Holland’s powerful poem states:
“God, give us men! / A time like this demands / Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands; . . . / Men who possess opinions and a will; / Men who have honor; men who will not lie; . . . Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog / In public duty, and in private thinking; / For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds, / Their large professions and their little deeds, / Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps, / Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.”
