I couldn’t stand O’Hara. She just prances around with the stench of narcissistic entitlement. I know Rhett had his issues but I started to feel a little bad for him.
I understand O’Hara determination and resilience of “refusing to go hungry” but to step on necks in order to do that..you deserve what you get because karma always collects. Which is why I was happy when Rhett left her.
I haven’t seen it for years. The last time I saw it, my two takeaways were that it was interesting to see so many cultural flashpoints that, previous to seeing it, I’d only known through cliche, or parody. The “reunited lovers running through the field to embrace” for example. The second was after all three plus hours of that movie, just being enraged that Scarlet had seemingly learned nothing. Your piece here piques my curiosity about revisiting it, but I’m just not sure I can put myself through all that again.
Excellent takeaways: the movie's images are deeply seeded into the pop culture subconscious, it's wild how influential it is independently of its message. Also, I hadn't 100% considered this, but O'Hara's intransigence resembles Dixie's post-war, Jim Crow-era defiance. They learned nothing, too, on purpose.
Gone with the Wind was one of those movies that was a frequent watch for me as a kid. My views and relationship with the movie definitely has evolved over the years, however, one thing was never questioned (even with my first viewing) was that this was definitely the romanticized view of the South and life before and after the war. Tales from my grandparents and family who migrated north from the deep South gave me a firm understanding of life for “coloreds” in this country.
I am glad you touched on that the North can not stand on any high moral ground with respect to slavery. The North was complicit and profited off Southern slavery through a multitude of institutions (banking, insurance, textiles,etc), and had rampant ethnic and racial discrimination that in some ways persists today.
Well said. I'm also a child of the 80's, but a lifelong Northerner. Given the current political situation, I've caught myself selfishly wondering if we would have been better off if they had just let the South go back then. But then I guess we wouldn't have gotten this wonderful movie.
I couldn’t stand O’Hara. She just prances around with the stench of narcissistic entitlement. I know Rhett had his issues but I started to feel a little bad for him.
I understand O’Hara determination and resilience of “refusing to go hungry” but to step on necks in order to do that..you deserve what you get because karma always collects. Which is why I was happy when Rhett left her.
“I love old movies because they're the closest I can get to time travel.”
Agreed! I’ve also always felt this way, I love the insight.
I haven’t seen it for years. The last time I saw it, my two takeaways were that it was interesting to see so many cultural flashpoints that, previous to seeing it, I’d only known through cliche, or parody. The “reunited lovers running through the field to embrace” for example. The second was after all three plus hours of that movie, just being enraged that Scarlet had seemingly learned nothing. Your piece here piques my curiosity about revisiting it, but I’m just not sure I can put myself through all that again.
Excellent takeaways: the movie's images are deeply seeded into the pop culture subconscious, it's wild how influential it is independently of its message. Also, I hadn't 100% considered this, but O'Hara's intransigence resembles Dixie's post-war, Jim Crow-era defiance. They learned nothing, too, on purpose.
A powerful and insightful review. I've only seen GWTW a couple of times, but it's left an impression.
Excellent.
So many old great movies to speak to current times. Love exposing the younger generations to the power of old films. https://open.substack.com/pub/growingupaspen/p/dr-strangelove-the-trump-remix-we?r=2g93c&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Gone with the Wind was one of those movies that was a frequent watch for me as a kid. My views and relationship with the movie definitely has evolved over the years, however, one thing was never questioned (even with my first viewing) was that this was definitely the romanticized view of the South and life before and after the war. Tales from my grandparents and family who migrated north from the deep South gave me a firm understanding of life for “coloreds” in this country.
I am glad you touched on that the North can not stand on any high moral ground with respect to slavery. The North was complicit and profited off Southern slavery through a multitude of institutions (banking, insurance, textiles,etc), and had rampant ethnic and racial discrimination that in some ways persists today.
Well said. I'm also a child of the 80's, but a lifelong Northerner. Given the current political situation, I've caught myself selfishly wondering if we would have been better off if they had just let the South go back then. But then I guess we wouldn't have gotten this wonderful movie.
Fabulous on resonances from Gone with the Wind.
Dude that GWTW review is not 150 words
Ha ha thanks for reading, Eric!
Have you actually read the book ?
You write about "Gone With The Wind" like it's some little cult item that no one has ever heard about but you.
How do you figure? What he wrote illuminated the movie for me.
I’m sorry, everybody. I let things kinda get to me.