The hat floats down the creek from the battle site. The boy is returning from fishing, spots the hat and picks it up to wear, just as any boy or even man in that time period would have. His father has been acting as if the war couldn't touch them, and he believes it. People believed this was a little skirmish that would be over quickly, with everyone going back home very soon. None of them recognize the danger because he insists that, if it isn't on their land, it does't involve them. Even when the soldiers are shot on their land, he refuses to believe they are involved.
Remember that, back then, news wasn't readily available except from passersby or a newspaper, if you lived in a large enough community to have a newspaper. Information was hard to come by. So, for them, the war isn't part of their farm life. If they ignore it, it will go away. It's still a very common belief in many regions of the country: If it's not at your front or back door, it doesn't apply to you. Expand that as you go further back in the past. This was a time when, if someone were to marry someone from the next COUNTY, that person was considered a "fureigner" (foreigner)! If they weren't from the immediate region and you didn't know their family for generations back, they were strangers not to be trusted, sometimes for many years. I know this attitude from old stories in our family, when just such marriages occurred. Again: If it wasn't right on your doorstep, it didn't apply to you and wasn't your business.
When, the boy is taken, it becomes their business. Yet, they honestly believe that their farm will remain untouched and that the war will pass by after whatever battle is over. They believe that the war will move elsewhere, which was entirely conceivable. Skirmishes could be so separate, not encompassing. Some places were hit hard, while others remained untouched. It did happen in the Civil War!
Think in the terms of the time period. Do not apply modern-day attitudes! This is a huge mistake too many people make~especially young people of today. It's as if you cannot think with any other mindset, and doing that is a MUST when you watch period films! If you cannot do it and get all "hot and bothered", stay away from them and stick with Quentin Tarantino, movies about "the 'hood", idiotic comedies, and Transformers. Quit picking apart what you obviously do not understand. If you got this far without understanding how to interpret period films, they might not be for you.
Maybe that's why they make such bizarre films as "Marie Antoinette" and "A Knight's Tale" with pop music and modern-day behavior. Stick with Musketeers who do martial arts and other incredibly anachronistic junk.
EDIT: I just watched the scene where the boy is taken. It's obvious from his expression that he did not realize it was a soldier's cap. He removes it, looks at it puzzledly then dons it again.
~~MystMoonstruck~~
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Hancock_the_Superb
11 years ago
Maybe some of us can tell the difference between a good period film and a terrible one like Shenandoah. Condescension in defense of a lousy movie is unbecoming.
"I guess this isn't the right economic climate for an expensive, poorly-trained visionary."
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