Insert Surname2
NameInstructorCourseDatePattonMovie
PattonMovie is the tale of the General George Patton, the famous SecondWorld War commander. The movie starts with the career of Patton inNorth America and his progress through the European invasion and theThird Reich fall. The plot outlines various Patton faults that wouldhinder his desire to become the major American general in theinvasion of Normandy and his relieve as the Germany OccupationCommander, (Hirshson2). Patton lived for war and the Second World War was the culmination ofPatton’s life. Patton did not fight for principle, or to defenddemocracy, freedom or any abstract idea, rather he fulfilled hispassion for fighting. In Patton’s diary, he was determined to be acountry leader and a general.
Thefilm was accurate in portraying various aspects of the Second WorldWar. The film producers focused a considerable amount of effort andstaff in making the Movie accurate. The movie portrays soldier’sequipment and uniforms correctly, (Hirshson4).The movie producers had access to the actual Second World Warequipment through the Spanish Army rented to play in the movie. Thiswas ease because, prior to the war deal, the US had given the Spanisharmy the WWII equipment. The opening scene depicts Patton withvarious personal touches and military symbols, for instance, a uniquehand gun, (Hirshson6).The scene is unique in that it shots and pauses on diverse uniformaspects to allow the viewer to understand the uniform details.
Themovie accurately portrays the real life General George Scott ascomplex character seen in differently by various people, (Davies 14).Various aspects of Patton’s personality shows include his tendencyof antagonizing people and cooperating with various people at thesame time, Patton’s aspects as a general, his wide read andknowledge of history and his ideologies. Patton’s phrase “holdpeople by the nose and buzz the ass” depicts Patton’s realstrategy and language he used on his soldiers to push them throughthe opponent and standing at the back of his soldiers with tankspermitting the end of grunts. Patton led division and yell out ordersto his soldiers, (Lopate 123). The issue of the American gunsineffectiveness compared to German Armor tanks is accuratelyportrayed when one general says, “touching and giving a Kraut a 37mm is the only way to hurt him”. Patton’s army disciplining inAfrica after taking command was accurate. The actual army combatstand out in the movie and Patton required his men to put on leggingsand helmet all the times, (Hirshson372).Patton related history to ideology concepts, for instance, he talksabout the dead soldiers of the battle to refer to Norse Myth and theclaim that the defeated depict the war heroes.
Themovie reflects some political, social and cultural landscape of thetime. For instance, Patton does not personify his soldiers andaddress various broader issues of the WWII such as racial and ethnicdiversity issues, (Davies 24). He completely excludes women from themovie despite the crucial role serving in the army in various formsof non battle roles. The movie is termed as biography and thus itsuffers in that it excludes the crucial details of Patton’s life,for instance, the fact that he had some domestic roles that he caredfor at the time of war, which is the family. Similarly, the moviegoes overboard in some scenes in representing the Patton views andthe movie is guilty of oversimplifying Patton’s challenges.
Theproducers did not mention Patton’s family in the movie, although hekept in touch with his kinsmen via letters. John Waters, his Son inlaw, was seized during the war, but the producers skipped thisepisode in the scenes of the movie. This implies that the matters ofhonoring one kinsmen by the directors resulted to decreased historyaccuracy in portraying a complete character of Patton, (Hirshson374). Lack of Dwight Eisenhower an American Forces Commander, and hismeeting with George Scotts at the time of the war is also a politicalissue.
Theabsence of racial representation, women and diversity in the battledepicts an inaccurate WWII environment perception. Lack of diversityis demonstrated by the act of renting Spanish Army soldiers and didnot speak throughout the movie (Hirshson8).The film does not aim to rectify this in the actors’ choice for thesoldiers’ roles whose voice is heard in the movie. This isdetrimental to the history of the WWII because it excludes issues ofdiversity between of regular officers and soldiers like soldierscomposing of Polish, Germany, American and Italians while officers asAnglo Saxon. The African American role was more of a servant than asoldier whose duty was to help Patton (Lopate 126). This depicts theissues of racial inequalities with the military ranks. Absence ofwomen in the film is a most challenging aspect. In the hospitalscenes women were shown as nurses and men as doctors.
Theissue of political power is seen in soldier slapping, Patton’sattitude and language. Patton’s aggressive approach made variouscritiques blame him for American soldier and civilians killings. Forinstance, two of his soldiers convicted for prisoners shootingsconfessed that they were following Patton’s orders for killing thesurrendered Italians and Germans. Patton’s use of power is seen inthe statements like “I cannot take any prisoner alive”,incidences that did not cause him problems because they were not knowby his supervisor, but are worse that slapping cases shown in themovie, (Davies 18). Some of the Patton’s incidences wereexaggerated, for instance, the part where Patton claim that he likeswar in the field of dead millitants of America. Although Pattonrecognized his role as a militant, he rarely celebrated negativeattributes of destruction and death as depicted in the movie.
Themovie happened during the war in Vietnam in the 1970. The movie alsooccurred at the time when war films were demanded by many people.Patton stood out in this war film because of his focus on the traitsof the characters in the movie. For instance, George Scotts (Patton)is portrayed as deep and complex character with a passion to defendhis country – played a general commander role. Patton is portrayedas brash and arrogant, reflect and sad at times (Hirshson9).The music in the movie is seen through the works of Jerry Goldsmithwho showed powerful emotions and action in some movie scenes. Themovie depicts Karl Malden Bradley in a father like duty. Bradley seesand recognizes the immense talents of Patton as a general and heattempts to apply them in spite of the natural ability of Patton toantagonize all people around him. The movie does not show Patton’sunlovabletraits of turning on his subordinates they advanced their careers tosurpass him. Patton had good comments on Bradley and his comments onBradley allowed his promotion over Patton’s head, (Hirshson275).
Thefilm has critical symbolic messages, for instance, General Pattonglorifies war, throughout the scenes of the movie, for instance, insome scenes like “won” where Patton stands over the dead Americansoldier battlefield and boosts of his love for war, (Lopate 233).Some movie analysis speculates that the influence of the movieinformed Richard Nixon’s decision to expand the war of Vietnam intoCambodia because he watched the movie several times.
Inconclusion, therefore, Patton Is the movie that composes of a greaterdeal of critical representation of the traits of Patton as the maincharacter. It represents a great deal of the historical landscapes ofAmerica during the war but it is guilty of leaving out variouscritical historical details. Patton movie is accurate as a lifehistory of George Scotts throughout the period of war, however, itdid not to pinpoint critical concerns involved in the war, forinstance, ethnic diversity and military role during the WWII. Thefilm is ideologically flawed because it glorifies that fight andreduces the war results and impacts using the statement of death inwar as glorious and noble and leaving out critical instances like themurdering of the soldiers who surrendered during the war.Nevertheless, the movie is unique in that it managed to accomplishsome aspects that other war movies have not accomplished, forinstance, the “complex characterization rather than a stark ofstereotypes of the war. The historic issue of the movie ends up beingcomplex because George Scott’s main movie character has crucialinsights in the study of history.
Workscited
Davies,Norman. NoSimple Victory: World War Ii in Europe, 1939-1945.New York: Penguin Books, 2014. Internet resource.
Hirshson,Stanley P. GeneralPatton: A Soldier`s Life.New York: Harper Perennial, 2006. Print.
Hirshson,Stanley P. GeneralPatton: A Soldier`s Life.New York: Harper Perennial, 2002. Print.
Lopate,Phillip. AmericanMovie Critics: An Anthology from the Silents Until Now.New York: Library of America, 2008. Print.