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Gone with the Wind
During high school, a friend and I would spend our lunch break in our theater arts room. Our teacher had a television and VCR set up, so she and I would watch shows, fast forwarding during the commercials. (We would have to run to our next class in order to see the whole thing, but if you pull out commercials, most shows are 40-45 minutes long.)
One Friday we discussed a rather daunting plan. Neither of us had ever seen Gone with the Wind, and the length of the movie seemed a bit much. So she told me she would bring the tape on Monday (since her mother had it), and we would watch it in parts. It took us all 5 days (& running late a couple of times) to do it. It held us enthralled as only romantic teenage girls can be.
Of course it took a great deal of discussion to determine whether or not we like Scarlett (undecided), Rhett (yep!), Melanie (she was nice), Ashley (nope!), and so on. If I remember right, my friend's favorite character was Rhett while I adored Mammy, played by Hattie McDaniel. (We thought Scarlett was too full of herself even while we appreciated her determination & guts.)
Gone with the Wind has been given negative reviews by those who focus on its romanticizing of the Old South. However, it should be remembered that the story is told from Scarlett's point of view. A spoiled woman brought up in luxury and wealth would hold a more romantic view of the time before the War. For her, that way of life was right, everyone was happy, and why should she have wanted it to change? She would have paid no attention to the darker side of the life she lived.
(At least one branch of my family has been in Texas and the South back to the early 1800's, and I have a love/hate relationship with my heritage. I also have a love/hate relationship with the way the history of the South has always been portrayed. I'm starting to study it more in depth on my own instead of depending on what I learned at public high school.)
Overall though, the sweep and the grandeur of the movie, the hints of the tragic and traumatic events going on around Scarlett, the costumes, the cast, all of it makes for a grand epic.
During high school, a friend and I would spend our lunch break in our theater arts room. Our teacher had a television and VCR set up, so she and I would watch shows, fast forwarding during the commercials. (We would have to run to our next class in order to see the whole thing, but if you pull out commercials, most shows are 40-45 minutes long.)
One Friday we discussed a rather daunting plan. Neither of us had ever seen Gone with the Wind, and the length of the movie seemed a bit much. So she told me she would bring the tape on Monday (since her mother had it), and we would watch it in parts. It took us all 5 days (& running late a couple of times) to do it. It held us enthralled as only romantic teenage girls can be.
Of course it took a great deal of discussion to determine whether or not we like Scarlett (undecided), Rhett (yep!), Melanie (she was nice), Ashley (nope!), and so on. If I remember right, my friend's favorite character was Rhett while I adored Mammy, played by Hattie McDaniel. (We thought Scarlett was too full of herself even while we appreciated her determination & guts.)
Gone with the Wind has been given negative reviews by those who focus on its romanticizing of the Old South. However, it should be remembered that the story is told from Scarlett's point of view. A spoiled woman brought up in luxury and wealth would hold a more romantic view of the time before the War. For her, that way of life was right, everyone was happy, and why should she have wanted it to change? She would have paid no attention to the darker side of the life she lived.
(At least one branch of my family has been in Texas and the South back to the early 1800's, and I have a love/hate relationship with my heritage. I also have a love/hate relationship with the way the history of the South has always been portrayed. I'm starting to study it more in depth on my own instead of depending on what I learned at public high school.)
Overall though, the sweep and the grandeur of the movie, the hints of the tragic and traumatic events going on around Scarlett, the costumes, the cast, all of it makes for a grand epic.
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