The Most Celebrated Terrible Film of All-Time

Rating: 1/10 (30 November 2007)

The film claims in the opening credits to have a historian as a consultant, Wilbur G. Kurtz. And, at the time of its making, what he did sufficed as history.
The Old South was claimed to be a "pretty world," "a dream remembered," and full of gallantry. There are innumerable problems with the film the greatest of which is racist sentiment.
The portrayal of "Mammy" is particularly racist. Manny has no name and her entire life is invested in Scarlett's. She says the happiest day of her life is when Scarlett has her child. She is always worried about the family's reputation and lives vicariously through them. She becomes terribly upset and emotional when Rhett and Scarlett fight. Most outrageously, Mammy is seen pushing USCT soldiers aside to allow Scarlett through as if Mammy and other former slaves have no interest in their own freedom.
If the portrayal of Mammy is bad, the portrayal of Prissy is even worse. Mammy is at least portrayed has having some sense whereas Prissy plays "the simple-minded darkie" with no courage at all. Her high pitched voice serves to emphasize her inanity.
Mammy and Prissy's characters are part of a larger lie that the movie attempts to tell: the myth of the "loyal darkies." In the scene where Atlanta is under attack by Sherman, some black men say, "Don't worry! We'll stop them Yankees!" When one slave is given a watch he refuses to accept it and insists that Scarlett should keep it as if to say, "Look! These white people were so great to us we want nothing from them!" The film also advances the myth of benign slavery. Scarlett's father tells her to treat slaves gently, as if the only problem is a few bad masters who commit excesses. When Ashley complains of misgivings about white prison labor, he says that he kept all of his slaves well-fed and would have freed them when his father died if the war had not done so first.
Finally, the film advances the myth of the evil carpetbagger. "Carpetbaggers" are shown to be terrible and vicious people who kick injured Confederates off the road and ride with nicely dressed black men sitting in a position of equality. One night, the white southerners "clean out the woods to protect their women," which is just code for organizing the KKK and committing murder.
The film is rife with faux sentiment, posturing, and social strategizing. Scarlett O'Hara is simply a terrible character. She is screaming, crying and whining. She's weak, flirtatious, boy-crazy, and hopelessly in love. She slaps Prissy and tells her she will sell her south. Scarlett is manipulative, lying, deceptive, lovesick, and obsessed with looks. And all her tribulations are emphasized by melodramatic music and foreboding weather.
Even scenes which would otherwise be wonderful must be condemned because of the vicious intent behind them. The contrast of the tree, Scarlett, and her father against the setting sun is simply perfect. But, it intends to advance the myth of the idyllic Old South. After the attack on Atlanta, the camera shows the land covered with soldiers and pans back up to the Confederate flag. While expertly shot, the scene is used to evoke sympathy for the Lost Cause.
This film competes with Birth of a Nation for the title of "Most Celebrated Terrible Film of All-Time." Gone with the Wind is less racist, but much more celebrated than Birth of a Nation. Given the two criteria, it is difficult to say which is worse. Birth of a Nation has been kicked off AFI's Top 100 Films while Gone with the Wind still sits perched at #4. Whereas films like Christmas with the Kranks are unequivocally awful, Gone with the Wind is worse. The reason being that it is much worse to be shitty and pernicious than it is to be shitty and harmless.
To paraphrase a quote from Scarlett, "As God is my witness, I will never watch this film again!"