Gone with the Wind

***Gone with the Wind*** is a 1939 American epic historical romance film, adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name. The film was produced by David O. Selznick of Selznick International Pictures and directed by Victor Fleming.

## Plot

The film tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara, the strong-willed daughter of a Georgia plantation owner, from her romantic pursuit of Ashley Wilkes, who is married to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton, to her marriage to Rhett Butler which all takes during the Civil War.

## Why It's Gone with the Wind

1. A well-written story that blends a romantic subplot with a historical setting. The changes that are made from the book to the film, are mostly welcome and don't detract from the film's quality, especially for cases where they cut out offensive and/or racist content.
	* Many characters, such as Scarlett's child from her first husband and her relatives in Charleston and Savannah were removed, although most viewers wouldn't miss them.
	* A long stretch of material about the O'Hara family before Tara was also cut out for the film.
	* The film adaptation *thankfully* removes a usage of the n-word and references to the Ku Klux Klan.
	* The film takes a more nuanced approach to slavery than the original book, and nearly avoids naming the enemy North entirely. Although Rhett's mild curse and loose morals still remain intact.
2. With the love story between the two leads taking place during the Civil War -- one of the most famous events in U.S. history -- and said war threatening to destroy Scarlett’s plantation, the melodramatic theme fits in very well with the theme.
3. It had exciting music that is perfect for the film's setting.
4. Amazing set design that was not only groundbreaking for its time, but still holds up fairly well today.
5. Complex, if somewhat unlikable characters, especially for Rhett Butler and Scarlett O' Hara
	* Scarlett's the more interesting member of the protagonist pair as she's a Southern belle who is in love with Ashley Wilkes who's in love with his cousin Melanie. This love triangle becomes a love square when Rhett Butler enters the picture and is determined to make Scarlett his. You can both hate Scarlett for being a spoiled brat attempting to steal a man from his sweet Melanie but still love her for her spunk and determination to keep her plantation together.
	* Rhett may seem like your suave, debonair hunk of the South but there’s a dark side to him that we'll talk about later.
	* Melanie is an amazing character who's far more likable than the leads, as she has a sweet disposition and cares more about the happiness of others than herself.
	* The black slaves Sam and Mammy serve a good purpose, and are hilarious side characters (Prissy is a different story). Mammy was basically a mother figure to Scarlett and never afraid to tell it like it is. And Sam saved Scarlett’s life in that shanty town she was in. Hattie McDaniel’s reasoning for playing Mammy was that she would rather play a slave and get paid like an actress than work for real as a slave. McDaniel was the first black woman to win an Oscar and she absolutely deserved it.
6. Great casting, especially from Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh, Leslie Howard, and Olivia de Havilland.
	* It got to the point where Leigh (as Scarlett) and Hattie McDaniel (as Mammy) won Academy Awards for their performances.
7. Some of the characters death is sad and heartbreaking, such as Bonnie Blue Butler and Melanie Hamilton's deaths.
8. Very memorable quotes such as "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.", "After all, tomorrow is another day!", "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again!", "Fiddle-dee-dee", and "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies"

## Bad Qualities

1. In a case similar to D.W. Griffith's *The Birth of a Nation* 24 years back, even though this film marks an essential landmark in film-making history, the film has a lot of racist aspects that seriously date the film (though not as much as the novel it's based on). Although, the film's a period piece set in the American Civil War and is therefore supposed to be partially offensive, it still doesn't change the fact that there are a lot of neglected issues:
	* Even though the Civil War is supposed to be about the end of slavery yet, there are no issues raised of the slaves in the movie. They seem to be happy working in the house with no requests of freedom towards their owners.
	* Slavery being the cause of the Civil War is swept under the rug.
	* Prissy, one of the black slaves, is a very annoying comic relief who really drags the film down with her terrible humor, screechy voice, and the fact that she lied about knowing how to raise a child, then revealed she knew nothing about it.
2. As stated above, both Scarlett and Rhett, despite being very complex, are pretty unlikable protagonists, in their own ways.
	* Scarlett O'Hara (even though she was much worse in the original book) does many mean things throughout the film, like marrying Charles Wilkes not out of love but just to make Ashley jealous, not even giving a damn when Charles dies and donating the engagement ring Charles gave to her as a donation.
	* Rhett Butler isn't that much better in that department and practically commits marital rape on Scarlett, which she's somehow okay with.
3. It includes themes and character depictions which may be offensive and problematic to contemporary audiences.

## Trivia

* This film held the record for the highest-grossing film for twenty-five years and, adjusted for inflation, has earned more than any other film.
* It was originally pulled back in 2017 from the schedule at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee, after a 34-year run of annual showings.
	+ It was also pulled on June 9, 2020, from HBO Max, due to the George Floyd protests as well as in response to an op-ed written by screenwriter John Ridley that was published in that day's edition of the Los Angeles Times, which called for the streaming service to temporarily remove the film from its content library. He wrote that "it continues to give cover to those who falsely claim that clinging to the iconography of the plantation era is a matter of 'heritage, not hate'." However, the film was eventually put back up in the same place the following month with a new introduction by Jacqueline Stewart.