Patriotic to the Core?

Abstract

Patriotism refers to the love of one’s country. The image of the nation as an extended family, expressed by the pervasive use of terms like “mother country,” “fatherland,” and “band of brothers,” makes such love seem natural. Yet the emotions evoked by family frequently are both intense and ambivalent. Some people love their families to a fault, while others do so despite or even because of those faults. Using the same logic, is patriotism blind or can it take the form of a love-hate relationship, with the emotional anguish and erratic behavior that often accompanies a conflicted state of mind?

In the last scene of Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis, still in drag, finally tells his ardent suitor, “But Im a man.” Joe E. Brown’s reply is, “Nobody’s perfect.”