Editing Braveheart (section)

=== Portrayal of Longshanks and Prince Edward ===
The actual [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] was ruthless and temperamental, but the film exaggerates his negative aspects for effect. Edward enjoyed poetry and harp music, was a devoted and loving husband to his wife [[Eleanor of Castile]], and as a religious man, he gave generously to charity; the film's scene where he scoffs cynically at Isabella for distributing gold to the poor after Wallace refuses it as a bribe would have been unlikely. Furthermore, Edward died almost two years after Wallace's execution, not on the same day.<ref>Traquair p. 147</ref>

The depiction of the future [[Edward II of England|Edward II]] as an [[Effeminacy|effeminate]] homosexual drew accusations of [[homophobia]] against Gibson.

{{blockquote|We cut a scene out, unfortunately ... where you really got to know that character [Edward II] and to understand his plight and his pain ... But it just stopped the film in the first act so much that you thought, 'When's this story going to start?'<ref>{{cite news|work=USA Today|date= May 24, 1995|title=Gibson has faith in family and freedom|author=Della Cava, Marco R. }}</ref>}}

Gibson defended his depiction of Prince Edward as weak and ineffectual, saying:

{{blockquote|I'm just trying to respond to history. You can cite other examples—[[Alexander the Great]], for example, who conquered the entire world, was also a homosexual. But this story isn't about Alexander the Great. It's about Edward II.<ref>{{cite news|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=May 21, 1995| title=Mel Gibson Dons Kilt and Directs|author= Stein, Ruth}}</ref>}}

In response to Longshanks's murder of the Prince's male lover Phillip, Gibson replied: "The fact that King Edward throws this character out a window has nothing to do with him being gay ... He's terrible to his son, to everybody."<ref>{{citation|work=Daily News |title=Gay Alliance has Gibson's 'Braveheart' in its sights |date=May 11, 1995 |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/1995/05/11/1995-05-11_gay_alliance_has_gibson_s__b.html |access-date=February 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604232204/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/1995/05/11/1995-05-11_gay_alliance_has_gibson_s__b.html |archive-date=June 4, 2011 }}</ref>
Gibson asserted that the reason Longshanks kills his son's lover is that the king is a "[[Psychopathy|psychopath]]".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/1995-05-25/film/icon/ | title=Icon: Mel Gibson talks about Braveheart, movie stardom, and media treachery | author=Matt Zoller Seitz |work=Dallas Observer |date=May 25, 1995 | access-date=August 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222002830/http://www.dallasobserver.com/1995-05-25/film/icon/ |archive-date=December 22, 2007}}</ref>