Gone With The Wind Reaction Post

 

Scarlett socializing before the Civil War when everything changed. 

As I watched Gone with the Wind, I noticed a major shift in the characters' personalities and values as the Civil War began. The movie begins by portraying the life of a young privileged woman in the south. However, as war begins, the tone shifts from spoiled and privileged to destruction and survival. This rapid change throughout the south, and the southerners priorities is what stuck out to me the most throughout the movie.  

Specifically, I found that Scarlett O'Hara experienced a dramatic shift which caused her to learn more about herself. 

Before the war, Scarlett was a spoiled young lady who was used to getting her way. She was mainly focused on her romantic life and social status. Scarlett flirted with all of the men, and loved all of the attention she got, despite only truly loving the one person she could not have. Ashley Wilkes. 

Growing up with everything being handed to her, and getting lots of attention from men around her caused her to rely on others for everything. 

Scarlett showing independence due to the result of the Civil War.

Although, as the war brought destruction, death, and chaos to the town, Scarlett had to learn to be more independent.  

I also believe that Scarlett's development in character is meant to represent southern women as a whole at the time, and how the War gave them the opportunity to prove their knowledge and skills. Women were never taken seriously in this era, so by taking on responsibilities they were able to prove themselves and show they have important qualities as well. 

Though I was not present to actually experience any of this in real life, I felt the movie did a good job portraying how quickly things in the south changed. Despite finding some things accurate, some things I found were not very realistic compared to other facts I know about this era. 

More specifically, I thought that slavery in the movie wasn't represented correctly. 

Mammy and Scarlett's relationship

Throughout the film, relationships between slaves, and white slave owners are depicted in a much closer, and comfortable way rather than showing the full negative effects they faced. 

In particular, mammy was portrayed to have a close, comfortable relationship with the whole family. Along with that, she also seemed to have some power and freedom. 

The sad reality at the time was slaves were not treated that well. 

Although slaves could grow a close connection with the family they worked for, I believe the movie made it seem a lot less toxic and wrong than it actually was. 

I found Mammy, who was played by Hattie McDaniel, also had a strong influence on the importance of the message in the movie. 

Hattie was the first African American to win an Academy Award. This accomplishment adds another deeper layer to her role in the movie and represents how times have changed. 

Gone with the Wind did a good job displaying the hardships of everyone during the Civil War while also playing into the stereotypes of the south at the time and creating a romance out of it.