329:question:329--week_6_questions_comments
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| 329:question:329--week_6_questions_comments [2016/10/06 06:27] – [3 Questions about interpretation] ccooney | 329:question:329--week_6_questions_comments [2016/10/06 14:18] (current) – nfanning | ||
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| Another thing the movie got wrong was a slave lecturing a white person. | Another thing the movie got wrong was a slave lecturing a white person. | ||
| + | We saw very few slaves in the film that actually worked in the fields, and the slaves that worked in the house were different than how real house slaves were treated. We saw that there were freed slaves walking around in town after the war was over, but we never actually see the slaves being freed or what it meant to them. As other people have said, they simply do not matter very much to the filmmakers or they serve as comic relief. I may be wrong, but I also think it was probably a stretch than a Catholic Irish family would have owned such a large plantation and had so much respect in Georgia at the time. | ||
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| + | i watched this film with my girlfriend this go round. From the beginning, when we first see Scarlett running, Mammy did not seem to be portraying a house slave well at all. My girlfriend was convinced that it was just help not a slave. Clearly in antebellum south mammy would be a slave and probably wouldn' | ||
| ====== 2 Things the Movie got right ====== | ====== 2 Things the Movie got right ====== | ||
| **Something that the film does get right is the way the men behave after the war**. You first have her father whose mental stability declines as the war reaches Tera plantation. Then there is Ashley who returning from war who is unable to figure out how to try and support his family or anyone else. When Ashley does try to stand up and take a job in New York, Scarlett and Melanie override his decision. Ashley even goes into business with Scarlett after she tells him too. With Ashley being less in power in this dynamic the film also correctly shows the ways that southern white women had expanded roles while the men were gone. Scarlett is taking care of Tara when Ashley and the rest of the men come back, and continues to take care of business when she marries Frank. | **Something that the film does get right is the way the men behave after the war**. You first have her father whose mental stability declines as the war reaches Tera plantation. Then there is Ashley who returning from war who is unable to figure out how to try and support his family or anyone else. When Ashley does try to stand up and take a job in New York, Scarlett and Melanie override his decision. Ashley even goes into business with Scarlett after she tells him too. With Ashley being less in power in this dynamic the film also correctly shows the ways that southern white women had expanded roles while the men were gone. Scarlett is taking care of Tara when Ashley and the rest of the men come back, and continues to take care of business when she marries Frank. | ||
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| ====== 3 Questions about interpretation ====== | ====== 3 Questions about interpretation ====== | ||
| - | Rhett raping Scarlett in the latter half of the movie always bothered me. The act itself was bad obviously, but each time I watch the movie, I still find it completely out of character for Rhett. | + | Rhett raping Scarlett in the latter half of the movie always bothered me. The act itself was bad obviously, but each time I watch the movie, I still find it completely out of character for Rhett. |
| - | My question goes a lot with what people have already discussed, but I think it’s important to address. Why did the slaves, especially Mammy, go on without questioning authority? What do you think were their thoughts on the war and its aftermath? And most importantly, | + | My question goes a lot with what people have already discussed, but I think it’s important to address.** Why did the slaves, especially Mammy, go on without questioning authority?**** What do you think were their thoughts on the war and its aftermath? And most importantly, |
| - | If the film, Gone with the Wind, bears any resemblance to author, Margaret Mitchell’s telling, one could seriously contemplate how bitterness in the South had been projected towards post-Civil War generations, | + | If the film, Gone with the Wind, bears any resemblance to author, Margaret Mitchell’s telling, one could seriously contemplate how bitterness in the South had been projected towards post-Civil War generations, |
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| - | I’m going to be completely honest, why did they depict the north as this horrible place? I get it the north and the south did not like each other, but was this movie an accurate interpretation of it? I just want to know because from what I was taught, it was never that hostile. | + | **I’m going to be completely honest, why did they depict the north as this horrible place? I get it the north and the south did not like each other, but was this movie an accurate interpretation of it?** I just want to know because from what I was taught, it was never that hostile. |
| - | I watched //Gone With the Wind// with the understanding that the film is rooted in nostalgia for the Old South. That being said, as I watched the film I questioned Hollywood' | + | I watched //Gone With the Wind// with the understanding that the film is rooted in nostalgia for the Old South. That being said, as I watched the film I questioned Hollywood' |
| - | The first thing that comes to mind is why did they kill off both of the children? What was the significance of killing the little girl and then making Scarlett miscarry? I can see the idea that maybe Bonnie connected Scarlett and Rhett more than anything else ever did. I read that the man that played Rhett threatened to quit over the miscarriage scene (or at least the part where he cries). Why did they take so long to kill off Mr. O’Hara? Why did they make him go mad instead of just killing him off in the war or something? Lastly, why was the ending left open for interpretation? | + | The first thing that comes to mind is why did they kill off both of the children? What was the significance of killing the little girl and then making Scarlett miscarry? I can see the idea that maybe Bonnie connected Scarlett and Rhett more than anything else ever did. I read that the man that played Rhett threatened to quit over the miscarriage scene (or at least the part where he cries). Why did they take so long to kill off Mr. O’Hara? |
| - | The character of Scarlett O’Hara seems somewhat anachronistic in terms of personality. While I cannot be sure how the typical woman would have negotiated patrons in a sawmill or handling intergroup politics, it seems somewhat odd just how much Scarlett was scheming and manipulating people to basically do exactly what she wanted of them? Again, I am not sure if this was part of some kind of mind games that were part of the Southern Belle debutante training curriculum, but much of popular culture and history paints this picture of upper class Southern women being very demure and hands off in their day to day lives. | + | The character of Scarlett O’Hara seems somewhat anachronistic in terms of personality. While I cannot be sure how the typical woman would have negotiated patrons in a sawmill or handling intergroup politics, it seems somewhat odd just how much Scarlett was scheming and manipulating people to basically do exactly what she wanted of them? Again, I am not sure if this was part of some kind of **mind games that were part of the Southern Belle debutante training curriculum, but much of popular culture and history paints this picture of upper class Southern women being very demure and hands off in their day to day lives.** --- // |
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| + | So Scarlett had a rough go of it when it came to husbands.**What were the rules for widows of this time? And is there a social limit to how many times a lady could get remarried? | ||
| ====== 4 Movie as a Primary Source about the time in which it was made ====== | ====== 4 Movie as a Primary Source about the time in which it was made ====== | ||
| - | I think showing that some of the slaves did not leave after the Civil War reflects the time period in which the film was made because I think a lot of people in the 1930’s believed or wanted to believe that slaves were not treated horribly. If this film was made today, slaves would be shown in the actual terrible conditions that they lived in. However, the filmmakers during the time period made a choice to show slaves as content in their positions and I think it has to do with some of the research that southern historians published before the film was made- essentially rewriting history to make it seem that slavery was not a problem when indeed it was. I think in more modern times there are more historians that accurately portray the way slaves were treated and how they felt, thus if the film was made today, there would have a more accurate portrayal of what slaves went through, regardless of what was published in the book. --- // | + | **I think showing that some of the slaves did not leave after the Civil War reflects the time period in which the film was made because I think a lot of people in the 1930’s believed or wanted to believe that slaves were not treated horribly.** **If this film was made today, slaves would be shown in the actual terrible conditions that they lived in. However, the filmmakers during the time period made a choice to show slaves as content in their positions and I think it has to do with some of the research that southern historians published before the film was made- essentially rewriting history to make it seem that slavery was not a problem when indeed it was. I think in more modern times there are more historians that accurately portray the way slaves were treated and how they felt, thus if the film was made today, there would have a more accurate portrayal of what slaves went through, regardless of what was published in the book.** --- // |
| - | In 1939, the United States had just been through a decade of the Great Depression. The Great Depression altered gender roles much in the way that the Civil War did. Women had greater control over the household as men were short on jobs and money. Women were responsible to keep the household going, figure out how to cut corners, and keep the morale of their worn-down men up, while still not emasculating their husbands. To see a woman declare, “With God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again!” would have been an inspiration to people. At the same time, the movie makes clear that, whiel women should take charge and help when needed for “the cause,” they should step back and allow their men to take charge again when the time comes. | + | **In 1939, the United States had just been through a decade of the Great Depression. The Great Depression altered gender roles much in the way that the Civil War did. Women had greater control over the household as men were short on jobs and money. Women were responsible to keep the household going, figure out how to cut corners, and keep the morale of their worn-down men up, while still not emasculating their husbands.** To see a woman declare, “With God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again!” would have been an inspiration to people. At the same time, the movie makes clear that, whiel women should take charge and help when needed for “the cause,” they should step back and allow their men to take charge again when the time comes. |
| While Scarlett is a strong character, her strength and dismissal of marriage is her tragic flaw, as she brings a trail of death wherever she goes (her first husband, her second husband, her unborn baby, her daughter (and Melanie, but in a different way)). She is left alone at the end of the movie, because, by the time she realizes that she needs her husband, he is gone. (There is a trail of hope left as she clings to Tara, but I would argue that that theme has much more to do with the triumphant South than the triumphant Southern woman.) | While Scarlett is a strong character, her strength and dismissal of marriage is her tragic flaw, as she brings a trail of death wherever she goes (her first husband, her second husband, her unborn baby, her daughter (and Melanie, but in a different way)). She is left alone at the end of the movie, because, by the time she realizes that she needs her husband, he is gone. (There is a trail of hope left as she clings to Tara, but I would argue that that theme has much more to do with the triumphant South than the triumphant Southern woman.) | ||
| - | So, although there is strength and positive—even feminist-- traits to be found in Scarlet’s character, especially considering it is a product of the 1930s, ultimately the message is against her character if viewers take the whole movie into account. --Julia Peterson | + | **So, although there is strength and positive—even feminist-- traits to be found in Scarlet’s character, especially considering it is a product of the 1930s, ultimately the message is against her character if viewers take the whole movie into account.** --Julia Peterson |
| - | The 1930s were a golden age for the film industry, as many people used movies as a form of escapism from the effects of the Great Depression. Even though Gone with The Wind was released towards the end of the Depression, the whole " | + | **The 1930s were a golden age for the film industry, as many people used movies as a form of escapism from the effects of the Great Depression.** Even though Gone with The Wind was released towards the end of the Depression, the whole " |
| - | I believe this movie is perhaps the pinnacle of a product of its time. For one, the movie hugely shows the difference and separation of gender roles particularly in the South. Scarlett O'Hara represents the " | + | **I believe this movie is perhaps the pinnacle of a product of its time. For one, the movie hugely shows the difference and separation of gender roles particularly in the South. Scarlett O'Hara represents the " |
| - | I think that it is important to look at this film through the time period it was made. During the Great Depression, the film industry thrived because people wanted to escape their financial worries by watching movies. This film depicts a well of Southern woman living in a big home and slaves working for her. Not that people during the depression wished they had slaves, but they probably wished that they were that affluent. This film made viewers think of the “good old days” in the romanticized South. | + | I think that it is important to look at this film through the time period it was made. During the Great Depression, the film industry thrived because people wanted to escape their financial worries by watching movies. This film depicts a well of Southern woman living in a big home and slaves working for her. Not that people during the depression wished they had slaves, but they probably wished that they were that affluent. |
| - | In many ways, Gone With The Wind is a primary source of its time. In other ways, it’s a little ahead of its time. Usually in films from this era, even when the protagonist is female, it is always the man, who is charming, comes in and saves the girl. The film turns this on its head, and has the man, though still charming, not save the girl, and leaves him as an antagonist. In fact, the film has most if its male figures either weak, stupid, or just plain mean. --- // | + | In many ways, Gone With The Wind is a primary source of its time. In other ways, it’s a little ahead of its time. **Usually in films from this era, even when the protagonist is female, it is always the man, who is charming, comes in and saves the girl. The film turns this on its head, and has the man, though still charming, not save the girl, and leaves him as an antagonist. In fact, the film has most if its male figures either weak, stupid, or just plain mean.** --- // |
| - | Though Gone with the Wind was made 75 years after the Civil War ended, the film was still very much a product of its time in regards to Southerners perception seceding from the union. Since the film’s release in 1939, an additional 75 years has passed and the older it gets, the more racist and sexist it might appear to younger generations. Of course at the time (1939) organizations like the Klu Klux Klan were not only prevalent, but socially accepted in many regions. This film predates the Civil Rights Movement and a number of feminist movements that clearly don’t apply within the context of this film, seen throughout as gender roles, a degree of spousal abuse, young women wedding much older men, the liberal use of the word “negro”, | + | Though Gone with the Wind was made 75 years after the Civil War ended, the film was still very much a product of its time in regards to Southerners perception seceding from the union. |
| - | Gone With the Wind, is a great primary source looking into the time the movie was made, 1939. As stated above the movie was made near ending the Great Depression. It almost seems as though this movie acted as a metaphor to the lives of the 'Old South' to that of the American Great Depression. I could only imagine the importance this movie had in connecting to people of the 1930's and 40's. Also the depiction of the racial relationships reflect highly of the time, and segregation at the time. The movie took the old south and rewrote history to portray a greater memory that was the " | + | Gone With the Wind, is a great primary source looking into the time the movie was made, 1939. As stated above the movie was made near ending the Great Depression. It almost seems as though this movie acted as a metaphor to the lives of the 'Old South' to that of the American Great Depression. I could only imagine the importance this movie had in connecting to people of the 1930's and 40' |
| - | The film definitely reflected the major social attitudes of Americans in the late 1930s. At the tail end of the Depression, as other people have said, women took a more independent role in the workplace and in supporting the American economy, which was in some ways reflected by Scarlett' | + | The film definitely reflected the major social attitudes of Americans in the late 1930s. |
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| + | Personally, I believe that the film would serve a rather accurate source for the time period and how people may have interpreted the Civil War and Reconstruction considering there may have been people that actually lived during the Reconstruction with family having fought during the war. As such, **some people may have romanticised the era in order to gloss over losses such as the end of slavery, the Confederacy losing the war, or the destabilizing of the Southern economy due to the emancipation of aforementioned slaves.** Additionally, | ||
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| ====== 5 Comparing the reading to the movie ====== | ====== 5 Comparing the reading to the movie ====== | ||
| The way I read the " | The way I read the " | ||
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| Overall, I think this shows the ideology of the South, especially during the barbeque in the beginning of the movie. The feelings of Southern men towards the Northerners was quite clear and accurate of the Antebellum South. The hardship a Southern woman faced when the men were all away was also portrayed well.** I’m not sure Scarlett’s relationships, | Overall, I think this shows the ideology of the South, especially during the barbeque in the beginning of the movie. The feelings of Southern men towards the Northerners was quite clear and accurate of the Antebellum South. The hardship a Southern woman faced when the men were all away was also portrayed well.** I’m not sure Scarlett’s relationships, | ||
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| + | Watching Gone With the Wind for the first time, I was able to better understand the South’s views of the war and its results, and how Hollywood held onto this view into the 20th century. The film is obviously historically inaccurate and shows a world that really did not factually exist. The way that white slave owners lived before the war was supported by brutality and force. Some characters even threaten to whip or beat the slaves, but we do not actually see any of it like we did in Amistad. Emancipation of the slaves also did not really have an important role in the film. We did see the suffering that Southerners lived through, or that later Southerns thought they went through, as a result of the war. Even about 70 years after the war ended, at least part of the white moviegoing public of the 1930s bought this view of the war, which shows us how unsurprising it is that people are still divided over the history of the Civil War and its meaning. | ||
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329/question/329--week_6_questions_comments.1475735273.txt.gz · Last modified: 2016/10/06 06:27 by ccooney