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Gone With the Wind
Gone with the Wind is an American historical drama that presents a sentimental angle of the civil war that took place in the years 1860-1865. The movie is staged in the old South town of Camelot. The main war depicted in the movie is not of civil or racial nature, but a war to win the comeuppance of the main character. The movie’s cast is composed of Scarlett O’Hara as Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, Leslie Howard as Ashley Willies, Olivia Havilland as Melanie, Ann Rutherford as careen O’Hara, Butterfly McQueen as Prissy and Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O’Hara. The movie was directed by a set of four directors and two screenplay writers. Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood and Sidney Franklin represent the directors while Sidney Howard and Ben Hecht compose of the screenplay writers. The movie uses strong passionate values with symbols that touch on sex and love as depicted in the original novel written by Margaret Mitchell. The era depicted by the movie is marred with major cases of feminine oppression and racism.
The plot of the movie shows the rise of Scarlett up on the social ladder through emotional manipulation. Scarlett is deep in love with Ashley who is in wait to be betrothed to his cousin Melanie. The marriage between the two pressurizes Scarlett to look for affection from another person. This is where wealthy Rhett Butler fits in the cast. The two begin their emotional roller coaster at a dance event that also a farewell party for the men going into battle. Rhett is amongst them. The movie displays a happy marriage between Melanie and Ashley but a weak one between Rhett and Scarlett because of the continuous pursue of Ashley by Scarlett. The marriage between Ashley and Melanie is killed by the death of Melanie during her second labor. The marriage between Rhett and Scarlett plunders when their daughter Bonnie falls from a horse to her death. The movie curtains fall with a teary Scarlett pleading heavily with Rhett not to leave her, to no avail.
Gone with the wind in its release in 1939 was well received by magazines and newspapers. The resultant effect was the movie topping and breaking movie records. On analysis, the movie contains inherent positive and negative aspects. In a reflective position, it is hard to remember any outstanding part in the movie. The movie is superfluous with emphasis on emotions. As a result, it fails to impress as a motion picture. No stunt or effect in the movie inputs imagery in the audience. Given that the movie was set in the civil war era, there is an expectation of a dramatic war effect. The movie is arguably a racial based. The white women are elegantly dressed and their male counterparts have dashing looks that are noble in nature. However, the black slaves look confused and dependent on their masters. At that time of the civil war, black people rights had already began being established. The movie regresses the move towards black recognition in the society and given it was released in 1939, it is unethical in its depiction of the black community.
Marital rape and rape is depicted in the movie. Rhett romantically advances to Scarlett, but on denial of his conjugal rights, he forcefully places his will on her. This part of the film can be criticized, as it mistakes the difference between intimacy and roughness by combining romance and sex. The scene makes romance and sex indefinable independently. The result is the confusion in the audience as to the romantic limits within a marriage. Scarlett, on the following scene, is vibrant and blooming forgetting the fact that she had been raped. This presents a notion to the audience on women enjoying forced sex. The first half of the movie does not sway the emotions of the audience as much as the second half thus highlighting imbalance. In positivism, the scene orientation and cast chemistry amongst themselves and the scene is perfect. The drama and emotional conveyance of the movie is second to none thus the various accolades awarded to the movie for narration. The portrayal of American culture and the emotional struggle underwent by the citizens during the civil war is vivid capturing the audience. The most memorable thing that an audience leaves with after watching the movie is the emotions.
Gone with the wind is one of the most popular and recognized films in time. The film pushed forward a change in feminine role in the society as depicted by the main star Scarlett. It is an educative tool used in humanities classes to inform and educate on the feminine role in society and the American civil war. The movie in the film industry has been constantly analyzed, satirized and referenced to provide a platform in directing new movies and television shows. The costumes used, scenery positioning and emotional effects of the movie are landmark stones for other productions. The movie has gone to win awards such as the most popular film under the American film Institute. It is also archived for preservation by the U.S National Film registry as a landmark. Four stars in rating as an entertainment, informative and educative film.