My Cary Elwes Childhood Part II: Glory

I was in seventh grade when I first watched the 1989 film, Glory. My pretty unorthodox Social Studies teacher, Mr. Schile, decided to show his classes the R-rated movie as a part of a huge Civil War unit we had been working on. As any normal kid would be, I was stoked that we would be taking up a few class days to watch a movie, no matter what it was.

I loved that class. Maybe it was because I was given the role of General Robert E. Lee in a simulation we did during the unit (and led the South to victory over the North, might I add); maybe it was because of the stories we heard of our teacher’s past (punched by a woman while working as a cop, almost kicked out of college while on a trip to California where he accidentally visited a gay bar with his friend); maybe it was the delicious brownies he made or the hours we spent trying to throw a hacky sack into the garbage bin. Or maybe it was just because I love history.

The latter would most likely be why I fell in love with this movie when Mr. Schile decided that violence and the F-word were appropriate for a classroom of twelve-year-olds.

In short, Glory is about the first all-black regiment and the soldiers’ battle between races during the Civil War. I squealed when I saw Cary Elwes come onto the screen (it shouldn't surprise you now that I'm kind of a huge fan of his). Starring a plethora of other amazing actors (Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman), you get to see the trials and tribulations these men go through as they fight for the North while also fighting to prove themselves; to break the barriers between the races their country has been struggling with for so long.

While the idea, a war movie following a group struggling to prove themselves, isn’t new or even surprising, Glory brings a fresh perspective and I love it. I love Colonel Shaw’s (Broderick) struggle to succeed in commanding his ranks while keeping ties with his friend and second-in-command, Major Cabot Forbes (Elwes), and the very loyal Thomas Searles. I love the sassy Trip (Washington), the quiet Rawlins (Freeman), and the stuttering Sharts. I love how, even though it's historical, even though it's violent, even though it's melancholy, it's still a movie that I go back to and watch again and again.

And maybe it shouldn't have been such a big part of my childhood considering it's graphic content (I'm pretty sure a soldier's head gets blown off in the first scene), but that's just what being a kid entails. Sometimes you have to grow up before you're ready, and I grew up with Glory; I grew up with The Princess Bride. Sure, there are other movies that had an impact on me when I was younger, and maybe I'll write about those later, but none had such a big impact on me as these two did.