The History Behind Braveheart

The movie, Braveheart, is based off of the legends about the life of William Wallace-a Scottish national hero. The link I provided is found on the MyGenealogy website, which provides a lot of historic information on past wars around the world. The article regarding the history of Braveheart is titled, The History Behind Braveheart. During the early 1300's the Scottish struggled to fight for their independence from the English. The film surrounds the story of William Wallace, a Scottish hero who decided to fight for the freedom of his country against the English. He slowly gathered a large group of followers to defeat the English rule. As illustrated in the movie, Wallace and his followers defeated the English army at Stirling on September 11, 1297. Unfortunately, on July 22, 1298, King Edward II led a large English army against Wallace at the battle of Falkirk. Wallace was captured and taken to London where he was executed on August 23, 1305. Although Wallace was not able to free his country from English rule, he inspired others to carry on the struggle for freedom. Following the death of Wallace, Robert Bruce, a Scottish fugitive, was inspired to fight for the freedom of his country, and was crowned king of Scotland. On June 24, 1314, Bruce led and army of 40,000 troops to fight against the English army of 60,000 troops led by King Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn. As the English launched a mass attack against the Scottish, Bruce had prepared camouflaged pits in the ground that allowed his troops to slain the English as they fought to attack. The English were defeated and lost about 10,000 men. This battle marked the Scottish independence from the English.

Braveheart: Fact or Fiction

In response to the popularity of the blockbuster Braveheart, Scottish historian Ewan J. Innes replied, "One of the most common questions I'm asked is how factual Mel Gibson's portrayal of William Wallace was in the 1995 film Braveheart. The short answer is that is hasn't an iota of fact in it." Continuing Innes explained, "It's a good film, just don't take it as fact... For example, Isabella cannot have been carrying Wallace's child (and presumably Edward III) as she was in France at the time and did not arrive in England until two years after Wallace's death. She could also therefore have not warned him at York (which Wallace didn't attack anyway)."
Another fault in the films historical accuracy is its interpretation of the battle of Falkirk. While the film conveys a much more heroic approach, in actuality "Wallace escaped the field but the majority of the Scottish army did not. Bruce was not at the battle as he was in Carrick in the southwest at the time."
Following the Battle of Falkirk, Wallace "resigned as Guardian and was sent on a diplomatic mission to France and Rome. He did not return until after the Scottish surrender in 1302." Yet, another example of the film's skew on historical events. Although Braveheart cannot serve as sufficient history source, the film's themes of freedom, romance, and integrity uphold its popularity. While, historians due tend to find flaws in th films accuracy, its only fair to note that the movie does open with the line "[history has been] written by those who have hanged heroes," which strikes wonder.

Braveheart- A look at the many sides of the film

Filmsite.org states the following for war genre films:
Themes explored in war films include combat, survivor and escape stories, tales of gallant sacrifice and struggle, studies of the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and intelligent and profound explorations of the moral and human issues.

Bravheart has many of the necessary elements to be an action-oriented war film. The most recognizeable aspect of the film, in regards to what Filmsite mentions, is Wallace's uncanny ablility to escape or avoid altogether situations that may cause his death. He survives numerous battles and at least two assassination attempts due to the influence he had over people. However, there is a theme of male-bonding in the film, when Wallace and his lieutenants are sitting around the fire eating, and they feel comfortable enough to make racy jokes about one another.

Historical Events

Also, the film makes reference to many historical events in the film, such as the Battle of Stirling Bridge between the armies of England and Scotland. In the film, the battle takes place nowhere near a bridge, being as it would have been to hard to film such a big battle in such a restricting setting. Also, the "battle" was more of an ambush of the english, not an instance where the two armies lined up facing each other and charged, according to wikipedia. There are a number of historical inaccuracies in the film. These inaccuricies resulted from the flim being changed in order to give the movie a better outcome. The details may also have been altered due to the fact that the basis of the film is from a poet named Blind Harry, who wrote the poem some time after Wallace's death. Whatever the reason for these inaccuracies, they remain in the film nevertheless, altering the perception of many who view the film, obscuring their knowledge of histroy.

The article on Bravheart can be viewed at this web address :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braveheart

Right of the First Night

In the movie Braveheart there are many references to actual historical events. Although some of William Wallace's triumphs are historically debatable, the legislative his motivation is stirred from is recorded as customary throughout Medieval Europe . In Braveheart William Wallace refuses the imposed law of jus primae noctis, or "law (or right) of the first night", which would give an English lord jurisdiction to deflower his bride on their wedding night. While marrying in secrecy to bypass the law seems like a good idea to Wallace at the time, it still doesn't keep his bride away from the sexually aggressive attitudes of the English. This act reflects the ideology of the strictly enforced social hierarchy of the time, which reigned god, king, lord, knight, etc. throughout Europe. Jus primae noctis is viewed as a continuation of this distinction by its reflection as as another "power display with a basis in the psychology of coercive social dominance, male competition, and male desire for sexual variety." In reference to Braveheart, this masculine power display becomes what incites Wallace's fight for love and freedom.

"Braveheart" and Homophobia

The movie, Braveheart, is based on the Scottish struggle against English rule in the 13th century. Braveheart was written, directed, and produced by Mel Gibson. Sid Ray, both an author and editor of various medieval books, wrote an article for Pace University called, “Hunks, History, and Homophobia: Masculinity Politics in Braveheart and Edward II.” Ray illustrates how Gibson twisted the history regarding the life of Edward II to make him seem as though he were an insignificant homosexual male. Indeed, it is true that Edward II was a homosexual, but he was definitely not as insignificant as Gibson portrays him to be in Braveheart. Ray presents us with the facts as he explains the real qualities of Edward II. Rather than being a careless, young homosexual fool as Gibson makes him seem to be, Edward II was a strong warrior who led thousands of troops in England. He was a very strong, tall, masculine man; however he lacked all of these physical and mental qualities in Braveheart. Ray believes that Gibson failed to portray the real characteristics of Edward II, because he (Gibson) wanted to stress upon Edward’s homosexual qualities so that he seemed to be unimportant and effeminate. Gibson’s character, Wallace, contrasted greatly with Edward II in the film. Wallace seemed to be more masculine because of his physical and mental strength to go into battle. Not only that, but Gibson, as Ray explains, portrays many of the characters’ masculine qualities through the words that they use. For example, at one point of the film, as Ray mentions, Wallace says that Scots make spears “twice as long as a man” to defeat the English. Next, Hamish, Wallace’s friend, says, “Some men are longer than others.” Ray explains that, “This word play emphasizes that winning involves active sexual agency.” As Ray demonstrates, Gibson illustrates the inferiority of gay men by using such words that imply the idea that heterosexual men are more masculine than homosexual men due to the phallic signification included in various scenes such as the one described above. Overall, what Ray wants his readers to notice is that Gibson includes his own homophobic views in his film, which portray homosexuals as being weak and insignificant.

Is Braveheart Homophobic???

According to James R. Keller homophobia is a central theme in Mel Gibson's Braveheart. "The juxtaposition of competing masculinities" between Gibson's rugged manly character William Wallace, and the effeminate Prince Edward conveys stereotypical perceptions of the negativity of homosexuality Keller argues. For example, evidence for his claimed is backed by the scene in which "his father and William Wallace are busy attending to the affairs of war, the prince is shown vainly posing and modeling his new clothes in front of the mirror, surrounded by an entourage of courtly butterflies..." Prince Edwards disinterest in political affairs implicates the notion "that gays have no place in the serious affairs of men," states Keller. Whether Gibson purposely conveys homophobic notions such as this example intentionally, or is basing these scenes on historical evidence is not outlined in Keller's essay he argues"...the image of Edward preening himself before a mirror contrasted to the image of Wallace, covered in the blood of battle, shouting "Freedom"" does hold its own implications.

"Braveheart" Anti-English??

The article that I am writing about concerns the anti-English sentiments that the film "Bravehear"t stirred up after it's release. In Scotland, many youths who viewed the film screamed anti-English remarks during the viewing of the film.
Colin McArthur, the author of Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Scots: Distortions of Scotland in Hollywood Cinema says that

“It’s incredible the way that the film has percolated into Scottish imagination,” he says. “The political effects are truly pernicious. It’s a xenophobic film. With young men in particular, it has done terrible things to their attitude towards England.”

The article also makes mention of the fact that the movie is very anti-establishment. This led to more problems, as a KKK website made use of this fact. This website asks the reader to

“Put yourself in Mel Gibson’s character . . . and imagine how you might react when pushed far enough. This may give you a sense of why the Klan was formed . . . In Braveheart, it was Wallace’s troops; in the South it was the Klan. All groups fighting for liberty against a tyrannical, overpowering force.”

Many groups have tried to play on the success of the film, many to less-than-honorable ends. Be that as it may, "Braveheart" is a film that brought forth a character that many can identify with, one who opposes the political system thrust upon him.