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.
The Patriot (2000)
Plot summary
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Mel Gibson, Chris Cooper, Jason Isaacs, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson
Late 18th Century Mel Gibson is a widower raising seven kids, Gabriel the oldest is anxious to join the American forces fighting the Brits in the war for independence. Against his father's wishes Gabriel does join up only to return home wounded as he is carrying dispatches between commanders. The war has come to their piece of the world and the family entire, gets caught up in it. Mel's second son is killed trying to free Gabriel as he is taken prisoner which forces Mel to first free his son and then join up. Mel takes the battle to the Brits leading his rag tag band of farmers and ex-Indian fighters as the Americans defeat the British and he gets his revenge on the one who killed his son.
More mistakes in The Patriot
Colonel William Tavington: Kill me before the war is over, will you? It appears that you are not the better man.
Benjamin Martin: You're right. My sons were better men.
Trivia: By the time Heath Ledger won this role, he was flat broke. He recalled, 'It came to the point where I had like, no money.' He was practically living on Ramen noodles by that time. This was because he 'got nothing offers to do these teen movies and television sitcoms', and he refused to do them due to the 'very little depth' of the scripts. By the time he was accepted for The Patriot, he said later, 'I guess I put myself in a situation where I didn't belong. But saying no turned out to be more valuable than saying yes.'
Question: Who was the baby in Charlotte's arms in the closing scene? Why was the baby not alluded to previously?
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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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.
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