Patriotism (1972)

What is Patriotism?, 6 December 2015

The purpose of this documentary is to answer the question, "What is Patriotism?", for a group of school-age children. I'm not a school- age child and I thought I knew the definition. But after watching Patriotism, I'm not so sure. According to this short and a very creepy Bob Crane, patriotism is just about anything you want it to be. Planting a tree, setting the dinner table, sharing your baseball glove, and painting a trashcan a hideous shade of yellow are four examples of patriotism. Another head-scratching answer to the question presented in the short is that patriotism is going into nature and "looking . . . really looking". Huh? Yeah, I don't get it either. 

So, does Patriotism succeed as an educational short? Well, that depends on how twisted your definition is. If you agree with the makers of this film, then, yeah it does what it sets out to do.

I've rated Patriotism a 6/10 - not because it's particularly good, but because it's very funny for all the wrong reasons.

6/10