chapter23allen

Gone With the Wind



Released in 1939, Gone With the Wind is a romantic drama based on the life of Southern plantation owners throughout the duration of the Civil War. Scarlett O'Hara is the main character of the film and it follows her messy love life. Scarlett is in love with Ashley (a man), who is in love with his wife (and cousin) Melanie. Scarlett is twice a widow and married to Rhett Butler who is very wealthy and in love with Scarlett, however, she never realizes that what she has is what she wants until Rhett leaves for good. The movie emphasizes the good in life showing much wealth and romance, but also the tragedies that come with life such as death, war, and loss. Watching movies was a way for the people of the depression to escape their difficulties momentarily and engulf themselves in good times and fictional stories. The film is proclaimed one of the best movies of all time, but has also been quite controversial. Due to the time period of the movie there are slaves in the movie, and some believe the movie shows slavery in a positive light, when it should be shown as a negative part of our history. The story portrays how people often take what they have for granted. They are always wanting something else, until they lose what they have and they realize that what they had was what they wanted all along. This ideal is similar to the people of the market crash and how they all wanted to make even more money, but when they lost it all, they realized that what they had was better than not having anything at all. It also relates to today in the sense of people like to escape from reality through different forms of media as did the people of the 30s.

"Gone With the Wind." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 27 Jan. 2016. .