Movie Review: Gone With The Wind
The movie gone with the wind was a very good movie however there were some historical inaccuracies. Such as, Gerald O'Hara announces the surrender of General Lee in the movie. He tells everyone the war has ended, but what actually happened was, the surrender of Lee's Army did not affect Georgia. The troops in Georgia didn't surrender until a month later. The Civil War actually ended with the surrender of General Kirby Smith at Galveston, Texas in 1865.
Some of the dialogue was inaccurate as well. Characters referred to African Americans as"darkies”, rather than the "n word used in reality." Also the costumes do not accurately represent the clothing of that time. Even though the movie had some inaccuracies I learned several things. One thing I learned is about property ownership. True wealth is not possed without property rights. In the South, property also meant having slaves, and gold was also very important in their time period. In the movie, the prostitute friend of Rhett Butler delivers gold to a beleaguered hospital in the South. The other women are disgusted, but Scarlett, realizes that a gift is a gift. She is also impressed that the money comes in the form of 'real gold', not the southern money. In the times of war and economic hardship, gold stands as the ultimate form of payment for goods and services. Marriage is almost always tied to money. Most of this movie is about the relationship of Scarlett O’Hara and Ashley Wilkes. It's a confusing relationship because Scarlett does not know what choice to make between love and money. Scarlett is constantly torn, but most women have to make this choice in their minds. Men too have to make hard life changing decisions. Rhett Butler is torn between loving someone whom he knows loves another and his own pride. Yet he will make the compromise for someone as tempting as Scarlett. It's a compromise that they both settle on until the end; when Rhett decides he would much rather hold on to his dignity and frankly 'not give a damn'. There are some facts in this movie but there are also some values being represented by the director. The movie is very racist, the white south being the villains of the movie, and it does romanticize the old South. The movie could have shown the old South from the viewpoint of the enslaved, their suffering and desire for freedom. It could have shown the value of their lives beyond revolving round white people. Although it does show some suffering due to war compared with luxurious frivolity. The South was fighting to keep slavery, yet slavery is portrayed as the normal order of things. Although the movie had a strong