We on this page think Braveheart is a great film. But we will not let some factually incorrect Holywood blockbuster set over 700 years ago influence our political views. Fifteen years after he painted his face blue-and-white and wore a kilt for Braveheart, Mel Gibson has admitted his movie depicted a highly romanticised version of William Wallace. Gibson, who directed and starred in the historical romp, told reporters in Edinburgh that the Scottish folk hero was really a monster and a berserker. The stirring film seems to have been loathed and adored by Scots in equal measure since it was released in 1995. Its rabble-rousing sentiment and jingoistic portrayal of the English as cowardly and effeminate quickly made it a focus for nationalist sentiment, while its historical inaccuracies and simplistic morality led many to dismiss it as Hollywood schmaltz. Braveheart doesnt mention that Wallace was a member of the ruling elite, a privileged landowner. It creates a love affair between Gibsons hero and Queen Isabella, who was in fact two at the time. It has been accused of racism and homophobia by some critics, and even the kilts the characters wear were invented 300 years after Wallace’s death. Promoting a Blu-Ray release of Braveheart in Edinburgh, Gibson said: Wallace wasnt as nice as the character we saw up there, we romanticised him a bit. Actually he was a monster. He always smelled of smoke, he was always burning peoples villages down. He was like what the Vikings called a berseker. Read more: theweek.co.uk/entertainment/18943/mel-gibson-admits-braveheart-was-bogus#ixzz2kNeZFNt0
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 22:56:52 +0000
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