Historical Inaccuracies In Braveheart

Like every other Hollywood movie, scenes based on true-life events are often exaggerated and highly altered. Braveheart is no exception. Filled with countless historical inaccuracies, one could say the movie was a fictional piece of fantasy.

After doing some research on the Internet I have concluded that Mel Gibson’s Braveheart is absolute utter garbage. It is filled with inconsistencies and highly inaccurate.

We begin with the childhood of William Wallace. Depicted as the orphaned son of a farmer, he was left all alone when his father & brother left to defend their land against the English army.  However truth is, William Wallace’s father Alan and eldest son John was in fact was fighting along side the English together.

Many years later, he is seen as a poor man who was truly in love with his childhood sweetheart, Murron MacClannough; which is before he got himself in a lot of trouble with the English. Actually he owned many lands and a scholar who was well versed in French, English and Latin. He was considered an outlaw for not swearing allegiance to the English, not because he single handedly led an up rise against a group of soldiers. There was no Murron, she never existed and therefore he never married anyone. The romance in the entire movie is completely made up and only meant to add emotional and sympathy value to the movie.

Contrary to the representation of Wallace, he was in fact a noble Knight and renowned poet, had he been in a time of peace he might even have been a scholar and not a brutal savage as shown on screen. He gained respect through his battles and leadership in war, despite not having a firm influence on the nobles of Scotland, due to corruption within power.

The dress code in the movie portrayed all Scottish freedom fighters as wearing kilts and leather. William Wallace at any point in time never wore sleeves. Again completely false, for most of the battles the men were covered in armory and clad in metal chains and coifs. Kilts provided little and almost no protection at all. Mel Gibson sacrificed historical inaccuracy in a bid to show off his bulking biceps and lean arms, all in the name of entertainment.

During the battle of Falkirk, Wallace was seen as being betrayed by the Scottish lords and nobles. He was shown as going against the desires of other nobles by charging into battle.  Contrary to what was shown, Wallace actually did not desire to fight on that very day due to the fact that the battlegrounds were not in their favor. The Lords and Nobles did not betray him directly, although they did indeed withdraw their troops halfway through battle, the reason for this is still unclear.

In the aftermath of the Falkirk battle, William Wallace rides alone to kill King Edward I himself. Defended by a personal knight, Wallace was knocked off his horse and played dead. The Knight was later revealed to be Sir Robert Bruce, who then saves Wallace’s life in repent for his betrayal. This never took place and is entirely made up. Sir Robert Bruce never betrayed William Wallace. Records show that Bruce might never even been in the battle or yet alone did any such significant act of repent. This bullshit dramatic twist in the plot was purely for entertainment purpose.

Next, which is probably the biggest lie in the entire movie is of Wallace and his secret affair with the French Princess Isabella. Having heard of his courage and desire to avenge his love, Isabella sent her escort to warn of danger twice. Seriously? Isabella was no older than 10 years old when he died. How could she have possibly been carrying his baby at his time of death? Portrayed as a delicate flower who opposed English brutality, Isabelle was in fact a feminist and as hard as a stone. She had her husband, the King, imprisoned and murdered. Then launched her own invasion of Scotland. Wow, that was entirely different from the movie.

Towards the end King Edward I was shown to have die at the same time that Wallace was beheaded. The scene was powerful, emotionally moving and deeply satisfying however King Edward in fact lived on for another 3 years after Wallace’s death.

Mohamed Sahdique Caubang

722 words

13th Century Scottish History

-Battle of Stirling Bridge

-Battle of Falkirk

During the 13^th Century, England and Scotland were at wars. One a great super power, trying to establish a bigger area of control and dominance. The other a humble but determined indigenous community, defending their right to see to themselves on their own homeland. The series of battles that took place over the 12-13^th century were known as the battles of Scottish Independence.

Led by King Edward I of England, the English army was an incredible force with up to 92,000 men at arms and 112,000 infantry receiving wages. Having campaigned against the French in Flanders, King Edward I learnt of the trouble that was occurring in Scotland. The Scots at the Battle of Stirling Bridge had defeated his northern army.

Raged and furious, King Edward I concluded a truce with Philip the Fair – French. Returning to England in 1298, he prepared for a second invasion of Scotland. – Battle of Falkirk

On the other side of the battlefield, the proud Scots led by William Wallace, consisted of folks that were patriotic and considered Scotland their home. Not wanting to be ruled by the tyranny of England’s King, they vowed to rid their land of English rule and free their people.

On September 11, 1297, Wallace’s forces defeated the English and won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Despite the fact that they were outnumbered in great numbers, their military tactics prevailed. The English’s retreat to the Stirling Bridge resulted in heavy casualties and the defeat of the northern forces, hence the name ‘Battle of Stirling Bridge’.

The battle embittered relations between the two antagonistic nations and took warfare to a whole new different level.

This significant victory, which proved favorable towards the morality and spirits of the Scots army, urged Wallace to lead a raid into northern England. This action of taking the battle to British soil was done to demonstrate their power.

Mohamed Sahdique Caubang

Words: 309

Whats my problem?

My problem is lackluster work. It is, a problem and i have to deal

with it. No more games to take up your whole day. If you have work

finish it. You are also losing your mind. Your intelligence is gone.

Your speech is often accompanied by incomprehensible blabber

what will you do Eric? its time to buck up and start again. Its never

NEVER too late. even if you do badly. cause you still can make it

Show this to your friends. Show this to yourself. There is no one

greater in this world to love more then yourself. I hate stupidity,

I hate laziness, I hate potential. I want intelligence!

I want diligence! I want success! You want success? go for it,

strive for it, fight for it.

10/05/2011

My declaration to the world that i will work hard, so I may

never feel the feeling of nervousness, insecurity and doubt ever again in my life.

HER

She talked to me last night, for the first time in a very long time.

I know I should have written this immediately after I woke up but I wanted to spend some time reflecting on it. Everything felt so surreal, it was so lucid. I could feel emotions in that dream, shock, disbelief, denial but most of all happiness. I enjoyed every moment of it and if I could I’d relive it all over again. I'll do everything I did differently.

It's a dream and it's been almost 3 hours since I woke up, so. Recalling what happened in detail is going to be challenging.

It started out with a phone call from Ian; he was at the pool asking me to meet him and some of my other friends. So I went down and as I passed the tennis court, I saw a group of people playing tennis. Most of them were familiar faces; Ruth, Bao Hui, that's all I can remember actually but what made me angry the most was the sight of her in mi p.e. uniform playing in my tennis court. I walked passed with a pain in my heart.

As I arrived at the pool,  I was greeted by Dian and... her? I was like, "what the bloody hell?" Dian greeted me warmly and I asked what 'she' was doing there. Dian told me everything was fine, I was confused. I spoke to her I told her that I thought she was at the tennis court playing with her other friends. I tried making a joke out of it and everything changed at that moment. She spoke to me, we had an actual conversation just like before. The good times we shared, the fun we had. All was back to normal, before everything went sour. We were back to being friends again. I didn't care for an intimate relationship anymore I just wanted her friendship. I liked being around her, just looking out for her and making sure things were all right. Her companionship meant the world to me at that moment.

The next thing I can remember was us going back to my pad to chill. I recall the living room was in a bit of a mess, it wasn't exactly the same living room as I remembered it. It was brighter, nicer, and more spacious. The couch was bigger than normal and grey. I tried to tidy up a bit, got rid of the cushions lying on the floor and rubbed my feet all over the carpet. Told them to come in and we all sat down on the couch, I think Ian was with us. They wanted to watch a movie. :) That felt nice, our old movie marathons with chips, murtabak and prata from Enaq, the Indian food store across the road.

I searched for titles for us to watch in the drawer, as I called out names everyone seemed to have watched them before, I was getting worried. Finally we got to something, a good while into the movie I decided everything was getting a bit too tense, no one was talking and she seemed a bit cold. I sat on the carpet, too afraid to get close to her. I didn't want to ruin anything.

I suggested we borrow a movie instead from the rental store. It was a unanimous decision, everyone agreed. Then I remembered I was short on cash, just good enough for the movie, I didn't have enough for a membership card. But it was all right, 'she' said she had a membership card back at home. She'd go get it while we settle the rest.

Walking down an isle of shops, this part is hard to remember, all I knew was we were looking for something. I was having conversations with friends, don't know their names. Can't remember who but all I know was we were. 

Back at home, it's mothers day ya? Mums in the kitchen cooking all sorts of food. Should be me preparing dinner but nay.. I was too caught up with my long lost friend. I tried to keep things simple, as thou we were all just normal friends having a sweet time. 

Next thing I know, the table is all laid out and food's ready. We're all sitting around having light conversation. Both my Home tutors were there, Mr. Tan and Madam Marnee, interesting huh? Felt like as if I was back in school again. We engaged in general conversation, can't be specific on details I can barely recall what was said. All I knew was that I felt comfortable and at peace. She was there with me, after being away for what felt like an eternity. That gap in my life had been filled. I finally had closure. Regardless of this in the back of my head there were still questions unanswered. What happened to her relationship with that German scum? Whatever happened? Is she still with him? What was she thinking right now. I had no idea. I never had the time to ask and I didn't want to anyway. That would just spoil the entire event.

Can't remember anything anymore really. 

You know I really don't know how I wronged you. You never confronted me, you said you would. I've left school. I've left Singapore. No words were ever exchanged. I never got another chance to look you in the eye or to say goodbye. To apologies, tell you that I truly regretted whatever I did. I never told you what I felt for you and you obviously don't know how great it was but believe me, I would have given up everything I have now to change. To change for you. 

I don’t know what this dream meant.

I’m all out of words.  I’ve spent too much time thinking about you.

This needs to stop.

So many things in this world I've misunderstood.

Believe me when I tell you I wish I could.

And if you do what you say, and you say what you do.

Lord knows we won't be talking this whole life through.

skins

i know you
i know you're lonely.
i think you need someone to want you.

well, i do want you,
be brave.
want me back.

-emily & naomi

EQ

http://www.queendom.com

tried answering as honestly as possible, but got really tired when it came to the pictures part. So i just chose the first option that came to mind, without giving it much thought. Bloody Hell, i always thought i had a decent EQ as compared to my IQ. Apparently not but whatever, not like i'm going to let a test judge me. i know who i am and that's all that matters. 

To the Basement People!

Had a haircut today - took years off my face.

Submitted Script for Competition last night, very sure we're going to win.
They've got nothing on us.
I'm confident we'll win first prize.

Watch...

I'll update soon.