  urlLink Questioning History The social studies chairwoman at an Arkansas middle school where I was once employed greeted me the first day of in-service with one question: Had I seen The Patriot. I had, and I foolishly ventured my honest assessment of the film: that it was emotionally manipulative and cavalier with its historical content. I should have turned mid-stream when a slow-motion grimace drew her lips into an unpleasant pucker. She was shocked and disgusted. For her, the film was the Revolutionary War, and that was exactly how she planned to present it when she played the video for her classes. 
