A Portrayal of George Washington in the Film The Crossing

George Washington the farmer, the commander, the first President of our nation. This noble and brilliant man led American troops (and people) towards the ultimate victory of independence The Crossing expands the narrow focus of Washington; the film adds more layers to the mystery that is George Washington. George still has this atmosphere of intelligence and a level head. When a cannon gets stuck in the mud, he tells the men to abandon it Washington realized that men and their safety were far more important than one cannon.

The film has to be true to some version of “our Washington”. Americans have trouble accepting when our heroes reveal their imperfect and mortal qualities, so the film incorporates the traditional image of Washington We see him encouraging Glover to carry his men across the river even though the fisherman had his doubts.

Before he even considers attacking Trent, he ensures that every man has safely crossed the river. All of those traits boosted up Washington‘s already glorious image; but that‘s not everything The Crossing used to portray George.

One surprise to me was the hatred Washington received from some of the generals. He had to detain one of these men because his disregard for Washington put the whole army at risk. Another shock came with the doubt placed up the Commander. Washington pushed his men to exhaustion in an attempt to keep them out of the British’s way. Yet generals constantly criticized Washington for pressing the army so severely.

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If the army dreamed of escaping the English, they needed to keep on moving.

So, why would a movie mess with our perception of Washington? Because Washington is such a monumental icon for our culture; we tend to see Washington for the “perfect” man we believe him to be. The Crossing adds more textures, flaws, to our preconceived notions. Washington isn‘t painted as an incompetent fool who recklessly sends his men into battle. We see a Washington that is both noble and human. Our George Washington is still a human being! He’s imperfect and flawed, but still capable of performing incredible feats. If our heroes contain imperfections then simple, common people like us can lead a revoluLion, enact a change, even become heroes ourselvesl/