Patton is about the controversial military general and genius, George S. Patton Jr. His use of punctuality, proper uniforms, saluting, and his greatly unfavorable discipline made him very unpopular among the soldiers. His love for battle and the excitement in battle made people believe that he was crazy. George C. Scott, giving the performance of a long and impressive career, played the lead role. Indeed, Scott became so identified with the character, and played the general so perfectly, that the Patton of documentaries has since occasionally been referred to as "an imposter." In a part that requires a skillful scaling of the emotional ladder, Scott finds the perfect balance between bombast and subtlety.1 The movie Patton caused controversy over its open scene and Patton's actions, influenced people's ideas about war, and affected the Oscars when George C. Scott refused his nomination for Best Actor.
             Controversy was caused by the opening monologue in the movie Patton. The monologue starts out with Patton in front of a backdrop of an American flag. In a line in the opening monologue Patton states "Americans have never lost and will never lose a war, for the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans." This is because America didn't really win the Vietnam War. There were two groups during the war called the "hawks", which were for the war, and "doves", which were against the war. When Patton was first released, a storm of controversy erupted around it. People were confused during the turbulent times whether it was a movie for "hawks" or "doves" because it could be seen either way. The two groups argued harshly and sometimes came to blows. Anti-war groups before the movie had been growing in size. Peace activists put on demonstrations that were very convincing, and they also made many Americans feel sympathy for their complaints. Yet most of them never marched along side the...