The Teaching Potential of the Movie Braveheart

Braveheart is a 1995 American movie that was directed and co-produced by Mel Gibson. The film talks about William Wallace, a medieval Scottish patriot who revolts against the English when his wife is killed. He leads his army into battle and starts to threaten England’s King Edward I. re He is captured and executed but becomes a symbol for a free Scotland. Braveheart received positive reviews however it was criticized because of the inaccurate information present in the film regarding the life of William Wallace. Historical facts were changed in order to make the movie more interesting. The recreation of the battles was accurate however they lacked a lot of details. The movie also had quite a few plot twists that made it much more fictional.

The theme of the film would be the hatred that Scotland had for England. The two nations did not like each other at all, and Scotland wanted their independence from England. However, there were quite a few Scottish men who had ties to royalty that still wanted to stay with England. In the end of the movie, Wallace is lead to his untimely death by these men who had cut a deal with the King. The feelings that Scotland had for England are not something that the movie just came up with. The tension between both countries are real and growing stronger everyday. They are still fighting for their independence from England.

Mel Gibson is a is an American actor and filmmaker. He generally stars in action movies and is a critically acclaimed actor wit many hits. In 1995, he produced, directed, and starred in Braveheart for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the Academy Award for Best Director, and the Academy Award for Best Picture. In an interview, he said that he just wanted to create a movie that would be as historically accurate as possible without lacking action and amusement. He did not expect the impact that the movie had on Scotland and how It boosted that patriotic movement in Scotland. Braveheart won an Oscar for best picture and Mel Gibson won an Oscar for best director. Mel Gibson is viewed as a controversial figure, with his comments about how Jews were responsible for all the wars in the world in 2006, when he was arrested for drunk driving. Since then, his career hasn’t been the same as before.

I think that movies can support learning alongside with lectures provided the movies are historically accurate enough. Showing movies in class can get kids more excited in history and make them want to learn. But the movies need to have an historical element otherwise it would just be a waste of time Also, there needs to be a fine line between entertainment and learning. If a movie is just filled with action or comedy, the purpose of showing the kids that fil is undermined because the kids wont focus on the historical elements of the movie. Movies allow kids to learn in a new more exciting way, the kids who sleep during lectures are more likely to listen to the movies. In our society, where everything revolves around internet and electronics, starting to modernise history doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Movies are a good way to encourage learning, but they present many challenges. Teachers have guidelines and a plan that they must follow and watching movies isn’t always possible. In order to really allow movies to be a part of the class, the curriculum must be changed however the government doesn’t care enough about if the student gets interested in the subject that they are taught, they just want it to be teached.

Also, many parents don’t agree with watching movies in class because it wasn’t the way they learned in school. What they don’t understand is that the world has changed a lot since they were in school and new ways to learn have been created. Just because it wasn’t, they way you were taught doesn’t necessarily make it bad. I think that the time to revolutionise teaching is now otherwise students will just lack the motivation to continue to study and just quit school. Especially with all the get rich easy schemes available today.