Jon Monsarrat review: racist undertones, plot moves along

Rating: 2/10 (10 August 2002)

Considering that Gone with The Wind is more than 60 years old, it is holding up well. The plot moves along interestingly enough, even though I am not a guy who likes dramas or romance. But special effects have really improved since then.
Unfortunately for "Gone with the Wind", it is no longer fashionable to long for the Old South, primarily because of the connection to slavery. We see plenty of stereotyped African-Americans in the film, childlike and speaking poorly. We also see plenty of men abusing women, bubbleheaded weak women, and other glories of the Old South. (There are plenty of white males portrayed as idiots, too.)
There are other problems. The main character of the film, Scarlett O'Hara, is an anti-hero and hard to identify with. The movie doesn't really have a story -- it spans over a century and we see little vignettes taken from a whole life. An epic saga is a valid form for storytelling, but it's not quite as gripping as the usual story arc with a primary endgoal to be resolved.
All of this added up for me. I did find the film engaging, but I couldn't ignore the anti-women and anti-black stereotypes, even though they weren't the main focus of the film. So I have to give "Gone With the Wind" a 3 out of 10.