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QotD: Gone With The Wind
SCARLETT:
You did, it’s true, you did! I’ll hate you till I
die! I can’t think of anything bad enough to call
you…
(Ashley leaves. Scarlett throws a vase to the wall
in anger. The crashing of the vase startles Rhett
Butler. He rises up from the couch in a dark corner
of the room.)
RHETT:
Has the war started?
SCARLETT:
Sir, you…you should have made your presence known.
RHETT:
In the middle of that beautiful love scene? That
wouldn’t have been very tactful, would it? But don’t
worry. Your secret is safe with me.
SCARLETT:
Sir, you are no gentleman.
RHETT:
And you, miss, are no lady. Don’t think that I hold
that against you. Ladies have never held any charm
for me.
SCARLETT:
First you take a low, common advantage of me, then
you insult me!
RHETT:
I meant it as a compliment. And I hope to see more of
you when you’re free of the spell of the elegant Mr.
Wilkes. He doesn’t strike me as half good enough for
a girl of your…what was it…your passion for
living?
SCARLETT:
How dare you! You aren’t fit to wipe his boot!
RHETT:
And you were going to hate him for the rest of your
life.
Since we soon may lose all non DVD versions of GWTT, my QotD is from the beginning of this magnificent movie.
Published in Group Writing
The controversy over Gone With The Wind prompted me to watch my DVD copy of the movie last weekend. I loved it even more than I remembered. It is a beautifully told story that brings forth a range of emotions.
Like all stories, it is told from a particular viewpoint. The reader / viewer doesn’t necessarily have to agree with the viewpoint of the writer / teller. In fact, that’s how stories get us to reconsider our own viewpoints. And different characters in the story present their own various viewpoints, which may or may not coincide with the writer’s viewpoint.
In some ways, Scarlett at the end of the movie is the same as she is at the beginning. But in other ways she is very different. Rhett brings to the surface Scarlett’s character traits that she pretends she doesn’t have.
The slave characters exhibit the same concerns most of us have – how to make the best of the changing circumstances in which we find ourselves.
The setting is merely a setting. We can all see pieces of ourselves in many of the characters. What would we do in that setting? It all makes for a very engaging story. And as you have quoted, there is some great dialogue throughout the movie.
One of my favorite scenes. Now I need to watch it again. It’s been a long time.
It’s fun to think about how a Clark Gable/Rhett Buttler would utterly drive mad some spoiled, rich, woke Ivy League Princess today, pointing out the hypocrisy of her undying love of some Soy Boy.
Great scene from one of the greatest movies of all time. Gone with the Wind, book and movie, were among my formative ones. I always wanted to be Scarlett, but with just a little bit of Melanie. Kind of how Scarlett wanted to be like her mother. Funny how many lines from the movie go through my head, over and over. Here’s a scene, one that comes not long before your clip. A kind of battle scene. This is what the “woke” are protecting each other from? Just who comes out on top in that scene? Heck, Mammy always had Scarlett’s number. Loved her through and through, stuck by her, but she also knew her inside out in a way she didn’t even know herself. Watch it before YouTube takes it down! Savor the nuance the idiots can’t.
Well, I do declare!
And this is the Quote of the Day. Plenty of openings in July, and July is nearly upon us. If you have a quotation you’d like to share, you can zippity-doo-dah your way over to the Sign-Up Sheet.
If they keep this up, we’re going to have a generation of black kids who won’t have any idea why everyone is so angry all the time. All traces will be purged. And the other thing that gets erased is any comprehension of just how far we’ve come. The progress in my lifetime alone is amazing. But then, the “Progressives” hate actual progress, because what they really like is a reason to be irate.
I also respect the movie, but can’t help thinking of Carol Burnett’s “Went with the Wind” parody. I don’t own a copy, tried to get one, but it seems it is a hot seller all of a sudden.
That was one of the funniest things she ever did! Remember the dress with the curtain rod still in it!??
No quote is as good as the scene of Rhett surrounded by eager Confederates:
“I’m saying very plainly that the Yankees are better equipped than we. They’ve got factories, shipyards, coalmines… and a fleet to bottle up our harbors and starve us to death. All we’ve got is cotton, and slaves and… arrogance.”
Yeah, I think Ashley made the right decision. I never liked Scarlett or this movie. Carol Burnett’s “Went with the Wind” was more my speed.
Not all the bullets Ashley dodged were fired by Yankees.
People forget what a cultural phenomenon that book and movie was. A large segment of the movie-going public was consumed by the casting. David Selznick was pinned into a deal with the devil (aka, his father-in-law, Louis B. Mayer) on acquiring access to Gable. But I doubt a film without him would have been as successful.
Contemporary critics are invested in the concept of “the power of film and storytelling.” They are convinced that their own projects are “trailblazing” and will have longstanding impact on society. That is why they simply cannot abide the fact that 21st Century audiences could possibly watch GWTW and not be enchanted by the portrayal of “the happy darkie.” But we can.
Hell, I was in high school 180 years ago when the original production of Roots was aired on ABC. We’re all bright enough to know which is closer to reality.
We were then.
I downloaded and have been reading the Slave Narratives, interviews with former slaves taken place 1936-38, when they were old, and before they were gone to tell their stories. It was created by the Federal Writer’s Project under the WPA, I believe, and it is a treasure. I’ve only got through about 8, but they are fascinating. The first story concerns a slave that was sold when he was 10 years old and never saw or knew what happened to his parents or siblings after that. Yet, he tells of loving the Master’s son, travels with him during the war to tend to him, which I didn’t realized happened. I noticed than they call the end of the war, the surrender. I hope to watch GWTW after I’ve read many more to see how it stacks up, with a new perhaps persepective from the view of those actually involved rather than those who interject their current perspective into it.
I don’t think we’re supposed to like her. Maybe admire her grit and determination and refusal to stay down. She was the archetypal steel magnolia.
They’re so many great quotes in the movie.
My friend Milt Rosenberg received the National Humanities Medal the same day Olivia de Havilland received the National Medal of Arts.
Margaret Mitchell not only wrote a story, much of what she wrote was explaining the history of the Civil War and what happened afterward.
Gone with the Wind reflected History, for better or worse. It wasn’t to my mind a racist interpretation either. I guess we are far too fragile now to look at our History straight in the eye, and we need safe spaces built for us to retreat to when faced with the ugly truths about human nature that real history will show us.
Exactly. The Left wants it both ways: to be able to rail against slavery while at the same time not allowing references to it or portrayals of it. I expect next we’ll see Civil War movies with Africans at cocktail parties or something.
I am fortunate enough to own two dvd copies of this movie and rewatch it at least once a year. What Sheridan did to Atlanta was one of the most horrible occurrences in the Civil War, and it’s portrayed vividly in this movie. I’ve always thought this movie to be one of the best learning tools to understand the haughtiness of the southern leaders who were so unrealistic about their ability to face a superior northern army. More importantly, it shows why their was so much animosity on the part of the south after the war when the northern carpetbaggers came down to continue the desecration of the southern economy and humiliation of its people. The English parliament abolished slavery 30 years before we did by remuneration to owners. Why were we the only nation in the world who fought a war over it?
Had they had better generals, they might have managed, but the average would have had to have been up to Bed Forrest levels. Instead, they had too many Braxton Braggs.
Fortunately for the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis could have only one best friend.
One was too many, though.
After Chattanooga, Davis made him an “advisor.” Same job Granny Lee had before he got the Army of Northern Virginia.
Interestingly, I recently read about the very grand funeral of Ulysses Grant attended by several Confederate war generals. It’s such a terrible shame that the ignorant protesters of today want to tear down our history.
When I was nine years old I saw Clark Gable in the airport, and ———- he kissed me on the forehead when my mother asked him for an autograph!!!! I didn’t wash my forehead for weeks after that. Although it was 65 years ago, I remember it like it was yesterday and still have the autograph.
Many of them knew each other before the war. Grant and Lee served together during the Mexican-American War. (Grant remembered. Lee confessed that he knew that they had met, but couldn’t recall Grant’s face. It had only been about twenty years.) Special Order 191 was authenticated largely because the aide to McClellan who looked it over recognized the handwriting of his West Point classmate on Lee’s staff who had copied (and initialed) it.
I still haven’t seen this movie! I read the book when I was 12 years old, loved it. Reread it recently.
I miss Rosenberg. I used to listen to him on WGN radio, and he had interesting guests and a wide variety of topics. He was respectful, as were his guests, and I think, audience. And then the Stanley Kurtz interview that incited a cancel culture response.