Emmerich has been forced to defend his picture against accusations from fascism to racism along with the re-ordering of history. .
Spike Lee, the African American Hollywood director, dismissed Emmerich's film as "pure blatant Hollywood propaganda: a complete whitewashing of history." "When talking about the history of this great country, one can never forget that America was built upon the genocide of the Native Americans and the enslavement of African people and it is criminal to say otherwise" Lee added. .
Emmerich defends his film against Lee criticism by saying "it's a story about a man trying to protect his family." "If I was going to make a film about the revolution I would have made a film about George Washington." Emmerich goes on to claim the actual historical event is a backdrop to the story of Benjamin Martin. .
Emmerich explained just after starting the film he believed that the opinions over slavery were the all the same during the time of the Revolution. However, later his research uncovered a small minority of white farmers in South Carolina who chose to .
hire free men apposed to hiring slaves. Emmerich responsibly decided on his hero being somebody who made a moral choice rather than an inherently racist slave-owner. Emmerich went on to say it wouldn't be logical to make a hero out of a slave-owner with regards to Lee's comments. .
Anti-gun groups have also spoken out against "The Patriot" as well. The portrayal of children shooting riffles is their main concern. Two of Benjamin Martin's sons are taught to hide in the woods and fire at the passing British soldiers. This scene is followed by one in which one son expresses his joy of killing the soldiers and the other son lays crying and speechless as he stares motionless at the ceiling. This part of the film stresses the emotions and felt by children of the Revolutionary period. .
The film "The Patriot" has proved to be an affective tool to stir up emotion within its audiences.