The Wasteland Reviewer

Outside the Wasteland: The Patriot (2000)

Film can mean so much more than just entertainment on a screen, right? Outside the Wasteland is my new avenue to express my thoughts on films that have truly made an impact on my life. This is not about how great the films are or even how much I love them. This is an expression of how these films have made a direct impact on my life including my love of film, my personality, my world view, and just an overall lasting impression that deeply affected me.  This is a doorway into The Wasteland Reviewer through the films that have shaped me.

The Patriot (2000)

How many war films did you watch growing up? Those are probably not films that you really expect young kids to be watching in their formative years, but they are certainly an experience that some have had. Spoiler alert…that was my experience. Whether it was watching with my mom, the grandpop, or my uncles, I took in plenty of war films growing up. The Great Escape. The Bridge on the River Kwai. Patton. But the one I probably watched the most was The Patriot. This is a rock-solid film with a big epic feel from Roland Emmerich and led by a fantastic performance from Mel Gibson, who leads an impressive supporting cast from top to bottom. This film, at the core, is a film about the United States’ fight for independence and how far we would fight to get freedom. This is such an interesting film to watch in 2025 when the idea of “freedom” seems so unfocused and divided across this country. But few films are as patriotic as The Patriot. This is a film filled to the brim with scenes and music that spark that feeling of pride to be a citizen of “The Land of the Free”.

But things just are so simple today, are they? Patriotism is such a strange thing that has become so divided and partisan in the political landscape in the United States. I grew up in a household that was uber-patriotic. We constantly had flags flying outside of the house. The Fourth of July was one of the biggest holidays of the year for my family. My family had quite a few military veterans in it as well, including my maternal grandfather (who helped raise me and I lived with for almost 20 years of my life) who was a WWII veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge in the European theater. I grew up as an uber-patriotic kid. I am pretty sure at least half the shirts I owned were patriotic tees (including many from Kohl’s $4 section of patriotic tees). I even owned multiple polos with American flags on them with either Mount Rushmore or the Constitution on them as well. I was raised to love history and politics as these were consistent subjects of conversation in my home. Fox News was on every day and night. I grew up as a conservative kid and into my teen years (which made me stick out in the quite liberal landscape of my small hometown in New Jersey). I was the prototype for a young patriotic American ready to be one for the rest of my life. The Patriot was always a reminder for me of just how much I loved my country.

But has that changed? The simple answer is yes…but it is complicated. Do I still love my country? Yes. I feel privileged to live in America. But unless you are an alt-right or MAGA conservative today, you are told that you hate your country, or you are not a “True American Patriot”. This gatekeeping of patriotism today makes me want to vomit. If you must scream how much you love America and how patriotic you are while telling others who disagree with you that they cannot possibly love their country, you are being American wrong. It makes me sick to see patriotism and love of America hijacked by Nationalism and Fascists who love the Red, White, and Blue in a performative way while spitting on so many important elements that makes America what it is. I don’t have any ancestors who were in America during the Revolutionary War let alone the Civil War. My family were all immigrants who hopped on ships, just showed up here, and did what they could to stay here and get the opportunity to be Americans. That appreciation has been lost by way too many in this country. It is hard to explain that you are a patriot and love America when so many “patriots” set such a horrible expectation for patriotic individuals. This is such a shame. I am a grown man who can think clearly enough to love the American Dream and potential of America while still acknowledging that we as a country have never treated all people with respect and humanity. It might be naïve to believe so, but I do strongly believe that this flawed nation can get to a place where human beings are all treated equally, and we can all live together in a true land of freedom. Every time I watch The Patriot, it brings that hope back to the surface.

But what has changed for me? One, I don’t really consider myself a conservative (or Republican at this point). The closest label I can put on myself is Libertarian. My default setting is to let people live their lives how they are and how they want if they are not impeding on others’ journey to do the same. Too many “True American Patriots” spend WAY too much time talking about other people’s lives and wanting to define them and telling them what they can or cannot do. We are all individuals and that should be respected, no matter how different we are from each other. Those who walk around acting like they are the only ones allowed to be patriotic push so many beliefs that have the complete opposite effect than freedom. Forcing religious dogma on people when we are supposed to have freedom of religion. Theocracy is not American. Trying to take rights away from queer people, people of color, and people of different religions just because they are not straight, white Christians of European descent is messed up and disgusting. Those who push a military and police centric state is fascism…that is not America. Sitting here in America in 2025 is so frustrating seeing what the extreme right is trying to do to America all through their orange clown of a cult leader.

Do I still wear patriotic attire like I used to? Not anymore. I occasionally do and I do keep a few articles of clothing that channel that pride I used to show off so much. I feel comfortable being outwardly patriotic because of what has become of the reputation of those who do. Flaunting red, white, and blue has been hijacked by racists, queerphobic, neo-fascists. I would rather mute my patriotism than have people assume that about me. Unfortunately, those people assuming that have plenty of evidence to believe that based on the demographics of “True American Patriots” today. When I watch The Patriot, I get goosebumps every time Gibson falls to his knees in pain but is willing to keep fighting when he sees that beautiful flag flying above him. That is hope. What the MAGA movement has done to our beautiful flag is an abomination throwing MAGA slogan, dog whistles, and Trump’s name all over our flag. That is not patriotism, that is cult bullshit. The amount of disrespect that “True American Patriots” have for our flag is pathetic and frightening.

How has my perspective on the military and police changed in today’s climate? This is honestly a complicated issue to process for me. I have multiple family members who put their lives at risk to fight for this country. My grandfather was one of my biggest idols growing up. He fought the greatest fight in the history of humanity…he fought against Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. I would sit and watch so many war films with him growing up and it helped me appreciate what he did even more. Any person who bravely fought for our country and put their life on the line should be taken care of for the whole rest of their lives, especially if they were injured (physically or mentally) in the line of duty. How that isn’t something we already do in this country is mind-boggling to me. But I don’t expect our present administration to do anything about it with a coward and military dodger disrespecting the role of Commander and Chief. But it is also important to remember that not everyone who has been in our military was a good person or did the right thing with that kind of responsibility. When you represent this country in the military and fight for our people, you need to be held to a higher standard and not be given a blank check to act however you want. Life in a society with other people only works when our actions have consequences. But what can you expect from a movement led by a man who acts like a giant child who whines and bitches all the time when he is called out for being a liar, grifter, crook, sex pest, and generally horrible human being. No one should be above consequences, especially people with real power like the President, military members, and police. Those that tarnish our beautiful flag with the “Thin Blue Line” would rather put police officers above the law at all costs instead of holding them to the job they chose…to uphold the law. When you put to the might of military force and police authority over the rights of people and the freedoms they are supposed to be fighting for, that is how you get into authoritarianism and fascism. My grandfather didn’t go to war to fight Nazis just so our country could be handed to them today. The brave soldiers in The Patriot didn’t fight for freedom from tyranny just so we can hand those freedoms over to a police state.

This is probably not the article you might expect from reading my other articles, right? But the is the power of cinema. Every time I watch The Patriot (and a laundry list of other war films that I grew up watching), all these feelings come to the surface. I just recently rewatched The Patriot right before the Fourth of July (which was not planned but it was fitting) and a whole lot of feelings of frustration, hope, and inspiration flowing over me. I love my country. I will never live anywhere else (if I can help it). I want to live in New Jersey for the rest of my life (I have plenty of Jersey pride too). I have hope that someday that everyone in the United States can finally be treated with respect and freedom can be for everyone. But that is not America right now. I do feel jaded, and my outward patriotism might be muted…but it is still there. If you think it is unpatriotic to criticize America and our government then you are just wrong. If you blindly follow orange men who don’t care about a single other human life and just want to push his authoritarian perspectives so he can keep making money off the backs of hardworking Americans, I hope you can take a step back and really think about what is going on right in front of you in this country. I will continue to watch films like The Patriot and hope that we come together like the colonists did (with all their differences and needs) instead of backing the hateful and authoritarian tyrants on the other side of those battlefields.