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The Patriot
Movie

The Patriot

2000 • Unknown

Woke Score
1
out of 10

Plot

After proving himself on the field of battle in the French and Indian War, Benjamin Martin wants nothing more to do with such things, preferring the simple life of a farmer. But when his son Gabriel enlists in the army to defend their new nation, America, against the British, Benjamin reluctantly returns to his old life to protect his son.

Overall Series Review

The film focuses on a father’s reluctant return to war to protect his family and defend the creation of a new nation. The narrative is a straightforward, action-oriented historical epic that centers on themes of family, duty, and patriotism against a clear, cartoonishly evil antagonist. It presents a sanitized, heroic view of the American Revolution, particularly by glossing over or attempting to sidestep complex issues of the era like slavery. The core motivation is the defense of home and kin, which drives the protagonist's actions and defines the moral compass of the story. Female characters exist largely in complementary, supportive, or familial roles. There is no evidence of the modern 'woke mind virus' tropes; the movie instead adheres to a traditional Hollywood structure of a nationalistic, family-centric, and morally absolute war story, for which it has been criticized by some contemporary cultural commentators for its historical 'whitewashing.'

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics3/10

The hero, a Southern planter, is controversially sanitized by being depicted as employing free Black workers instead of owning slaves, minimizing the systemic oppression inherent to the setting. This attempts to sidestep the intersectional lens entirely by making the white male hero morally pure on race, which is an opposite but equally problematic form of historical revisionism, warranting a low score for avoiding the 'woke' trope of vilifying whiteness, but not a perfect '1'.

Oikophobia1/10

The central theme is the defense of home, family, and the founding of a new, sovereign nation against a clear foreign oppressor. The British antagonists are depicted as sadistic monsters who commit atrocities like burning a church full of civilians, framing American institutions and the pursuit of independence as a necessary shield against chaos and tyranny. This is the inverse of civilizational self-hatred.

Feminism1/10

Gender roles are overwhelmingly traditional and complementary. The protagonist is defined by his protective masculinity as a father. Female characters are primarily in maternal or supportive roles and are used to advance the male characters' emotional arc, with their sacrifice or innocence serving to motivate the men. There is no 'Girl Boss' or anti-natalist messaging.

LGBTQ+1/10

The film exclusively focuses on traditional male-female pairing and the nuclear family unit. Sexual identity and gender ideology are entirely absent from the narrative. The structure is normative with no lecturing or centering of alternative sexualities.

Anti-Theism1/10

Traditional Christian imagery (a church) is depicted as the innocent victim of the British villain's brutality, which establishes the villain as an immoral agent and reinforces the moral gravity of the Patriots' cause. Faith is not demonized, and the conflict is framed within a clear moral law of good versus evil.