Gone with the Wind

Yeah, the movie 'Gone with the Wind' is an American classic and all that but I wanted to see how mean I could be to an 'epic film'. What can I say? I guess I derive satisfaction out of thinking differently. So, here goes.

The movie begins with a couple of supposedly handsome men taking shots at Scarlett O'Hara, the childish lead heroine in the movie. It has been made very mechanical and unbelievable. There is no way a sensible woman would have found it, in the least, flattering. The lady, little girl rather, has been made to witness the Civil War waged by the Yankees, three marriages and infinite amount of flirting during the course of the movie. It seems more like a deliberate attempt at squeezing war, romance and stupidity in one big package.

The girls in the movie have been portrayed as gullible and worth only to be flirted with. The change that comes in her, as shown later in the movie, is even more outrageous. There seems to be no trace of the old Scarlet in her at all, until when Ashley comes back and confuses her. Perhaps it’s his presence that brings out the unrealistic, impulsive part of her.

There is a line in the movie ‘She’s after your beau now’ which clearly removes any doubt about the intention of the ladies in the movie. It is hard to believe that she agrees to dance with Mr. Butler, who she had addressed as a dog in the first part of the movie, for no apparent reason. The impulsiveness of the character, Scarlett, is that of a child while the role she plays in the movie is that of a fine lady.

The men in the movie are not as refined as they are supposed to be with respect to the theme of the movie either. They address Mr. Wilkes as the ‘Captain of the Troop’ and they don’t even rebel against him when he says that there shall be no war. What could get more cowardly than that! The way Mrs. Hamilton says, “Oh dear, oh dear!” and faints is nothing less than melodramatic. It’s hard to miss that Scarlett seems turned on when Melanie cries on her shoulder when the list of those who died in the war comes. The scene gets, quite interestingly, abruptly terminated.

Even in the middle of the civil war, Mr. Butler keeps his cool. When she asks what he was laughing at, he answers back that he was laughing at her. He looks so calm that it seems that might actually have been organizing the entire uproar. After the war is over, she sees the gory remains that the war has left behind. Even at this point of time, all she has to say is, “Dirty Yankees!”

Overall, the movie seems way too far fetched to believe. There are a few characters who are suffocated with too much to deliver in the movie while there are others who have little or no relevance. It is an over-ambitious movie that has managed to convince people that it is good entertainment, of the laugh at the movie genre. As far as the ten Academy Awards that it won are concerned, I’d say, “Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.”(Quotes from the movie here)

PS: This post is the first of the three musketeers who felt bad because of Mr. Murphy.

Update: Check this out. Blogging just gets better. :D

13 comments:

  1. omg...you are the devil....(worships at feet)

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  2. @Culsec
    Loud evil laugh. Oh yes, I am! Fear me!

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  3. you were really angry at that time, weren't you? never watch movies after mess!

    may i fear you as well?

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  4. I've seen people busy writing book reviews (H.S)at this point of time.. But omg look at wat little devil is busy with.. writing a movie review.. Ya as abhishek says Never watch a movie after mess. I wud like to correct it.. You can watch movies and if u r so particular about the things which u see.. Then I would say watch some Good movies. coz I think they have an impact at least for some hours on ur subconscious mind..

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  5. @Abhishek
    Thinking about it, I did have white coloured water they give in the name of milk before I came up with this. The things the mess food does to you!
    Sure thing. You may. As much as you want. Feels very generous.

    @Sebastian
    'Little devil' here is as bad as it gets. This is "supposed" to be a real good movie. It clearly failed on me. :D They had an impact alright; I came up with this blog post.

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  6. Just want to say, visit my blog in about 2 days to watch me tear this to bits. And explain how, contrary to normal behaviour, the vast majority of the world's movie going population got it right.

    And yeah, "she's after your BEAU now" probably does indicate a lot of what Scarlett deals with in the movie.

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  7. Done. And btw, its good practice to STRIKETHROUGH the error and add on the correction, as opposed to pretending you never wrote it.

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  8. @RP
    I can't wait. :P
    Yeah, noted.

    @RP who can't wait for the reply comment.
    I like to cheat when I can.

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  9. Glad to see that someone actually had the sense to rip this post to shreds before I did. What I can't understand is the reason people are worshiping at your feet or are full of fear for you.
    A perfectly valid cheap shot by ramblingperfectionist.

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  10. @Whitelighter
    If you had a similar idea, I strongly suggest you go ahead with it.
    I am an angel. :)

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  11. hey! well said leela.

    This novel of mitchell is longest book i hav ever read. I watched some parts of the movie sometime later.
    I have only two things to say:
    1.) Never judge a book by it's movie, if u want to judge at all. :-)
    2.) I think Gone With the Wind, though a classic work of fiction is more or less about different "shades of a woman"...how does she behave when she's flirty, wen she's irritated, jealous, ambitious, even helpful, strong, weak, attention seeker, judgemental and in the end is a shade of a woman who's overcome the othr shades.

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  12. sad that u never got a chance to movie review back at school huh?

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  13. @Akanksha
    1) Totally agree on that one.
    2) I know very well. The whole point, as I have already emphasized is on writing critically about a movie that really doesn't deserve one according to popular belief that is.

    @Neeths
    I used to love writing 'em at school. Probably missing 'em. ;)

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