Gone with the Wind - Movie Review

Gone with the Wind

In this 1939 epic film a young woman absorbed in her own world experiences one tragedy after another in her long voyage to obtain the man she loves. Scarlett is a well to do Southern Belle of rural Georgia. Scarlett has the attention of every man in the south but longs for one. Her stubbornness helps her during the debilitating South's loss to the North and the near destruction of her beloved home, Tara. Scarlett marries to stay close to her love, marries to keep her home, and then marries to secure her place. After losing the people around her through the years, it's not until the end after she has lost so much that she realizes she had the love of her life all the while.

Scarlett is the daughter of a wealthy Irish plantation owner. Her mother is a virtual saint and it makes me wonder where Scarlett got her self-centered over the top attitude. Scarlett is looked after by a house full of slaves most notably Mammy. Mammy is the slave who looks after Scarlett like a mother. Historically speaking that was the duties of a house slave assignment to the children. Mammy is assertive and speaks her mind. She has her attitudes about lower class whites which I found interesting seeing as she is the property of someone else and is in fact lower than the white trash she points out. Scarlett is the oldest of three daughters. Even family is not sacred to Scarlett for she uses one of her sisters beaus to her advantage. Scarlett is at one point the sister-in-law to Melanie Wilkes, a woman strikingly similar to Scarlett's mother Ellen in her generosity, compassion, and loyalty.

Scarlett marries three times. Her first marriage is to Charles, the brother of Melanie. She marries Charles in retaliation for being rejected by Ashley. Ashley marries Melanie around the same time. I think Scarlett wanted to remain as close to Ashley as possible and being family was her only option at the time. Becoming a Widow at an early age, Scarlett is disappointed. Even during the American Civil War, Ashley and Melanie remain committed to one another. When Scarlett's home is in danger from the carpetbaggers, Scarlett snatches a financial opportunity that is also her sister Beau. Scarlett marries her second husband Frank at the dismay of her sister Suellen. Scarlett uses Frank and builds a lumber business that makes her wealthy and saves her home. She feels nothing for Frank and when he is killed, making her a widow for the second time, Scarlett is swept off her feet by the awaiting Rhett Butler. Rhett is reminded of Scarlett's unwavering emotional ties to Ashley and is at first unfazed. After the years go by and they have a daughter, Rhett becomes impatient and annoyed. Another tragedy falls on Scarlett. Their daughter, Bunny is killed in a horse riding accident not long after Scarlett falls down the stairs during an argument suffering a miscarriage. At the death