Wide screens and soap operas

Rating: 9/10 (25 February 2006)

I'm sorry this is such a long post, but hey, I've been a fan ever since I was 13, and I'm 44 now, so I have a LOT to say.
First off, I've noticed that many people ask about why Gone with the Wind is not on "wide screen" on this board, so, maybe I can help.
When Gone With the Wind ORIGINALLY came out in 1939, there was no such thing as "wide screen". The proportions of a movie shown then were much more like a standard TV screen rather than the long rectangle shape of wide screen. The proportions you see now on the DVD are the ORIGINAL proportions shown in the first version.
In the 1950's, wide screen cinema became a standard since movies were now competing with TV and had to have "something extra" to bring people back to the theatres. That is when wide screen filming started. Then, for decades, those films were "chopped" on their sides to fit a TV screen.
In the case of Gone With the Wind, though, to show it wide screen when it was re-released in the 1950's and 1960's, the original print had its TOP and a bit of the BOTTOM "chopped" to make it "stretch". A lot of scenery was lost... for example, when Scarlett is in the train depot to try and find a doctor for Melanie, a lot of the scope of the shot is actually lost in "wide screen" since the top of the shot is discarded.
These prints also tended to look washed out compared to the original prints since the film had to be "blown up" to fit a big screen. So, to conclude, although it may seem like you are getting "less" with the non-wide screen version of this film, you are actually getting more, and better than many people saw for decades.
As for the movie definitely in my top ten movies. It used to be my #1, but as I got older, it slipped a bit. Not because it's a bad film, but because it's very primal, very direct, which I'm sure has been a big part of its appeal through the years, especially to younger fans.
People are given to say this movie is a "soap opera". I accepted this, until I noticed pretty much every movie with a female lead character gets dismissed as a "soap opera" from people who, unconsciously or not, don't see a film as being "serious" unless a man is the lead and focus.
Also, so many women are portrayed (especially on TV) as one dimensional. There is an abundance on US TV of "perfect mommies/wives" without unsightly tummy bulge and who are always one step ahead of bumbling daddy. There's also the stereotype of the "business bitch" that is either cold and ruthless or stunted and subdued. And she's almost always shown as a perfect wife/mommy just waiting to happen.
There are very few women characters who are not portrayed as a saint or a whore, even now, in our politically correct era.
Gone With the Wind was decades ahead of its time in its portrayal of a woman trying to survive in a hostile world who is not evil, not saintly, but just a person trying to make it. She's not smart enough in some ways, and very smart in others just like the rest of us.
People also say it's a bigoted film and its attitude is destructive. Yes and no to this one. Yes, Margaret Mitchell was a conventional white, southern woman of her time with all the good and bad that suggests. She was a bigot. So were the people who made this film. HOWEVER, if you watch this and are either so; 1. Weak minded it makes you into a bigot, or 2. You are already a bigot and think this is super-accurate history and every African American was thrilled to be a slave, then you have issues way beyond what this film could possibly address.
A sensible, rational person takes this film and realizes it represents attitudes which are not acceptable. They also see that a change of thought on the subject of race does not mean we erase and forget anything that smacks of it because once you forget history, it does tend to repeat.
To sum it up there's a truly interesting female lead. There is an unconventional love story that ends in an unconventional way, even for our day and age. And there is an outdated P.O.V. of a minority which may disturb some, but unfortunately is accurate for its time.