Oppression in British Feature Films

making their own homespun instead.

The Indian masses in general are portrayed as poor people. In "The Patriot" the oppressed feel that the colonies should govern themselves and they are angry about "taxation without representation" as Benjamin Martin proclaims in the court scene. As war breaks out, Benjamin Martin only enters the fight, because Thomas gets killed. He is a multi-layered character as he has a dark side that is best seen at the first encounter with the 20 soldiers he kills to free Gabriel.

He can't hide the fact that he has a barbaric side in him that made him famous in the "wilderness campaign" as a young man. Gandhi detests violence and says, "I am a soldier of peace." Though Benjamin Martin opposes the war, he is not a 'soldier of peace'. He will stop at nothing to win and to gain his revenge for the death of his sons and independence for his country. The analysis of the tactics has the greatest differences as the two protagonists have completely different views and use opposite tactics. In Gandhi we see a man who would rather die through fasting, before killing one British soul.

The Indians defy the British by non-violent non-cooperation and Gandhi correctly stated that, "100000 Englishmen simply cannot control 350 Million Indians, if these Indians refuse to cooperate." A complete contrast is Benjamin Martin in "The Patriot". He becomes a militia leader and employs unconventional warfare against the British military to win his battles as several scenes show him using guerilla tactics. Until Colonel Tavington takes over, the British do not know how to handle "The Ghost" and his cunning warrior style.

There are many ways to compare and analyze these two films. "Gandhi" is based on historical facts and tries to convey the message that peace and love will always prevail, even if pain is inflicted along the way. However, even if you are leading 350 million people united towards a common goal, you will not be able to satisfy every one of them, which was the reason for Mahatma's assassination on January 30th, 1948.

To this day there are conflicts between India and Pakistan. As these countries have now become nuclear powers as well, it remains to be seen if Gandhi's wisdom is still within some of the people in power. When Albert Einstein heard of Gandhi's death, he said, "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood, walked upon this earth." And in the words of General George C. Marshall, we can sum up what Gandhi stood for and what he will hopefully always be remembered by: "Mahatma Gandhi has become the spokesman for the conscience of all mankind. He was a man who made humility and simple truth more powerful than Empires." The message or moral in "The Patriot" was not as powerful as in "Gandhi". They made an attempt to include a message of hope about a better future, but we know that civil war followed that time, that black segregation and slavery took place and even today racism is still a daily problem in America.

I believe, there is still a lot of progress to be made.