The keyword phrase is a compound search query composed of two proper nouns: "Patriot Day," which can refer to a U.S. national day of observance or a regional holiday, and "Mel Gibson," an actor and director. The query seeks to find a direct connection, typically a film, between these two distinct entities. This connection does not exist, and the query arises from a common conflation of separate films, historical events, and holidays.
The confusion stems from three primary elements. First is the 2000 film The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson, which is set during the American Revolutionary War. Second is the 2016 film Patriots Day, starring Mark Wahlberg, which depicts the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and its aftermath. Third are the two observances: Patriots' Day, a state holiday in Massachusetts and Maine commemorating the first battles of the American Revolutionary War (the historical setting of Gibson's film), and Patriot Day, the national day of remembrance for the September 11, 2001 attacks.
In practice, the search query "patriot day mel gibson" is an attempt to find a non-existent film. The user is most likely associating the actor from The Patriot with the similarly named holiday, Patriots' Day, due to their shared subject of the American Revolution. Alternatively, the user may be incorrectly attributing the 2016 film Patriots Day to Mel Gibson. The definitive resolution is that Mel Gibson did not star in, direct, or otherwise participate in a film titled Patriot Day.
