The Patriot

The Patriot (2000)

1 commented-on entry since 26 Mar '24, 22:00

(15 votes)

Question: Kind of a weird and random question, but is there any significance to when Colonel Tavington takes off his helmet in the church?

Answer: It's unknown, but even though he enters the church on horseback to intimidate the people inside, he may believe it's respecting God. It may also be something that a military officer automatically does when indoors. Also, men usually remove their hats once inside a building, mostly as a curtesy. A hat is protection for the outdoors, so once inside, no real reason to keep it on. He may be more comfortable talking without the chin strap, or he wants to be seen by the people he is threatening. It could be any number of reasons.

raywest

I've done a bit of research about the "not wearing a hat/helmet indoors" rule, since I've been curious about it before. People actually can't agree on single original meaning of this. One popular belief is that keeping your hat on makes it seem like you don't want to stay there long. It's polite to act like you are in no hurry and would love to stay a while. Or, keeping a hat on might create a feeling of distance, as if you want to be emotionally/mentally separated from the others.

Factual error: In one scene Lord Cornwallis' adjutant announces to Lord Cornwallis that a messenger (Benjamin Martin) has arrived. After initially dismissing the message, Lord C. pays attention on the mention of two "Great Danes" in Martin's company. The Great Dane as we know it today had many names over the centuries, but the Danish connection only became common use in the 19th century (Comte de Buffon - l'Histoire Naturelle - 1811). Until then the British would have called them Mastiffs (English or German), English Dogges, or perhaps even Boarhounds. Actually - the English Kennel Club of Britain didn't officially recognize the term/breed "Great Dane" until 1884.

More mistakes in The Patriot

Benjamin Martin: Before this war is over, I'm going to kill you.
Colonel William Tavington: Why wait?

More quotes from The Patriot

Trivia: At the beginning of the movie when Benjamin is taking the children to Aunt Charlotte's house in Charleston, there is a woman on the street that does not move, and wearing a big hoop dress. She is there to hide the fire hydrant on the street underneath her dress.

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Question: Who was the baby in Charlotte's arms in the closing scene? Why was the baby not alluded to previously?

Answer: At the end of the film, it is implied that Charlotte and Benjamin Martin have married and had a child together. It wasn't alluded to earlier because it is meant to show that a person's life can start over, even after tragedy and loss.

raywest

Answer: Additionally, in the film Charlotte says to Benjamin "I am not my sister," alluding that they were different people as Benjamin gets closer to her. As colonials were religious given the time, in the Bible in Leviticus 18:18 it says "do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living." Since his wife was dead, this no longer applied and they believed in starting over, as the above post states.

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