BRAVEHEART
What You Need To Know
William Wallace (Mel Gibson) leads his fellow Scots in a heroic struggle for freedom from England’s cruel rule in the movie BRAVEHEART, an epic which extols liberty, condemns unjust rulers and acknowledges God’s will. Set in the 13th Century, BRAVEHEART tells about the young man whose his father and brother are killed fighting the invaders. Meanwhile, King Edward I is plotting to repopulate Scotland by reinstituting the medieval right of “prima nocta” which allows the English lords to spend the first marriage night with the wives of their subjects. Therefore, when William falls in love, he gets married in secret. When the English guards try to rape his wife and she tries to escape, her throat is slit by the English sheriff. This tragedy starts Wallace on his crusade to drive the English out of Scotland. After many successful battles, he is overcome by treachery, but his cry for freedom emboldens the Scots to drive the English out.
BRAVEHEART is a rallying cry for the supremacy of God’s law over unjust governors. Regrettably, the movie is extraordinarily violent, the Scot taunt the English by exposing themselves, and there is an implicit adulterous affair. Even so, as director, star and producer, Mel Gibson brilliantly weaves together romance, heroism, magnificent cinematography, and explosive action into a modern epic.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Moral worldview with many positive references to Christianity, God's will, God, & Jesus as well as some pagan & some romantic elements; 6 obscenities, 3 exclamations which are clearly prayers, & two obscene acts -- the Scot army exposes themselves to the English army at a distance; extreme violence -- frequent fight scenes & battles which include stabbings, hangings, garrotings, impalings, castratings, gougings, dismemberings, & other vividly portrayed acts of violence -- & several long lingering shots of corpses with gaping wounds; two discrete sex scenes -- one marital, one adulterous; shadowed, upper body, female nudity; and, mythic revisionist history.
