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| 329:question:329--week_6_questions_comments [2016/10/06 13:47] – nfanning | 329:question:329--week_6_questions_comments [2016/10/06 14:18] (current) – nfanning |
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| 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.) |
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| 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 |
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| 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 "Moonlight and Magnolias" depiction of the Old South, as well as the emphasis on the accompanying glitz and glam overflowing in Act 1, catered to viewers' fascination with the glamorous world of Hollywood that they could experience through going to the theater and seeing their favorite big names like Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. The metaphor of Rhett, and the Old South, being "gone with the wind" and out into the fog can be relevant for the people of that time, too, as they similarly experienced much of their previous lifestyle escaping with one single, cataclysmic event. [http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_16.html]--- //[[afanghel@umw.edu|Fanghella, Amy E.]] 2016/10/05 10:44// | **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 "Moonlight and Magnolias" depiction of the Old South, as well as the emphasis on the accompanying glitz and glam overflowing in Act 1, catered to viewers' fascination with the glamorous world of Hollywood that they could experience through going to the theater and seeing their favorite big names like Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh.** The metaphor of Rhett, and the Old South, being "gone with the wind" and out into the fog can be relevant for the people of that time, too, as they similarly experienced much of their previous lifestyle escaping with one single, cataclysmic event.** [http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_16.html]--- //[[afanghel@umw.edu|Fanghella, Amy E.]] 2016/10/05 10:44// |
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| 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 "Southern Belle;" she is charming, witty, feminine, and most importantly submits to the white patriarchal society in the South. While Scarlett converses openly with men and flirts, she remains chaste and never truly bends gender lines because she knows her "place." Rhett is cast as the Southern gentleman, who protects her and is her knight in shining army, saving her from Atlanta and always coming in the proper time. While Scarlett does exercise some freedom with managing the plantation after the war, she does so in the absence of her father or a male authoritative figure. Southern Belles, as Scarlett embodies, are pure and legitimize men's violence towards black men as aggressor. In the 1930s, the depression lingers but the South holds onto its falsified past. The South in this time holds onto a blip in history, as shown in the beginning of the film. The beginning of the film shows the romanticism of the South's "way of life" in the antebellum period. However, the experience the film portrays is rare, most Southerners did not own slaves and did not live in the luxurious mansions shown in Tara. The South celebrates the Southern belle and Southern gentlemen as superior and therefore maintains white supremacy. In this time, lynchings were frequent and often defended by protecting the Southern belle's "honor." Black characters in the film, such as Prissy and Mammy clearly show the two lasting stereotypes in the South: the Mammy and the young "simple minded" help. --- //[[ejames@umw.edu|James, Emily B.]] 2016/10/05 12:04// | **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 "Southern Belle;" she is charming, witty, feminine, and most importantly submits to the white patriarchal society in the South.** While Scarlett converses openly with men and flirts, she remains chaste and never truly bends gender lines because she knows her "place." Rhett is cast as the Southern gentleman, who protects her and is her knight in shining army, saving her from Atlanta and always coming in the proper time. While Scarlett does exercise some freedom with managing the plantation after the war, she does so in the absence of her father or a male authoritative figure. Southern Belles, as Scarlett embodies, are pure and legitimize men's violence towards black men as aggressor. In the 1930s, the depression lingers but the South holds onto its falsified past. The South in this time holds onto a blip in history, as shown in the beginning of the film. **The beginning of the film shows the romanticism of the South's "way of life" in the antebellum period. However, the experience the film portrays is rare, most Southerners did not own slaves and did not live in the luxurious mansions shown in Tara.** The South celebrates the Southern belle and Southern gentlemen as superior and therefore maintains white supremacy. In this time, lynchings were frequent and often defended by protecting the Southern belle's "honor." **Black characters in the film, such as Prissy and Mammy clearly show the two lasting stereotypes in the South: the Mammy and the young "simple minded" help.** --- //[[ejames@umw.edu|James, Emily B.]] 2016/10/05 12:04// |
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| 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. --- //[[cmorg96@gmail.com|Callie Morgan]] 2016/10/05 14:14// | 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.** --- //[[cmorg96@gmail.com|Callie Morgan]] 2016/10/05 14:14// |
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| 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. --- //[[jgaddie@umw.edu|Gaddie, Jason]] 2016/10/05 16:09// | 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.** --- //[[jgaddie@umw.edu|Gaddie, Jason]] 2016/10/05 16:09// |
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| 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”, and even interbreeding between two of our main characters. All the while these men frequently refer to themselves as “gentlemen” but at no point in the film are any of these mannerisms deemed misappropriate. One can only assume that Rhett Butler was an example of standard for men around this time but to model one’s self after the character in present day, might result in a prison sentence. --- //[[dblount@umw.edu|Blount, David M.]] 2016/10/05 19:29// | 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”, and even interbreeding between two of our main characters. All the while these men frequently refer to themselves as “gentlemen” but at no point in the film are any of these mannerisms deemed misappropriate. One can only assume that Rhett Butler was an example of standard for men around this time but to model one’s self after the character in present day, might result in a prison sentence. --- //[[dblount@umw.edu|Blount, David M.]] 2016/10/05 19:29// |
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| 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 "Antebellum". --- //[[jbaker8@umw.edu|Baker, Jonathon A.]] 2016/10/05 20:46// | 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 "Antebellum".** --- //[[jbaker8@umw.edu|Baker, Jonathon A.]] 2016/10/05 20:46// |
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| 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's ventures into the lumber business and supporting her plantation right after the war. But the film certainly reinforced gender and racial stereotypes prevalent in the day. African Americans were either nowhere to be seen or heard, or were depicted as semi-civilized, "simple" people. Very little seemed to change in the film in its depictions of African Americans as slaves before and during the war, and as servants after the war (which reflected 1930s Hollywood's attitudes about race). In terms of gender relations, the film stretches the boundaries a bit with what was considered proper (as happened in the late 1930s), with Rhett and Scarlett both embodying a sort of rebel spirit compared to their peers, but women are nonetheless depicted as emotional, vindictive, irrational, incompetent, and weak, while men are strong (if sometimes cruel), honorable, and moral. | 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's ventures into the lumber business and supporting her plantation right after the war.** But the film certainly reinforced gender and racial stereotypes prevalent in the day. **African Americans were either nowhere to be seen or heard, or were depicted as semi-civilized, "simple" people. Very little seemed to change in the film in its depictions of African Americans as slaves before and during the war, and as servants after the war (which reflected 1930s Hollywood's attitudes about race).** In terms of gender relations, the film stretches the boundaries a bit with what was considered proper (as happened in the late 1930s), with Rhett and Scarlett both embodying a sort of rebel spirit compared to their peers, but women are nonetheless depicted as emotional, vindictive, irrational, incompetent, and weak, while men are strong (if sometimes cruel), honorable, and moral. |
| --- //[[dhawkins@umw.edu|Hawkins Daniel C.]] 2016/10/05 23:07// | --- //[[dhawkins@umw.edu|Hawkins Daniel C.]] 2016/10/05 23:07// |
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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, the book and film were created during The Great Depression. This could result in the romanticising of the actual environment with galas, sort of creating this longing for the glamorous days of old, but having the protagonists undergo a great deal of personal misfortune, possibly to create a mirror for the audience that may be undergoing their own misfortunes due to economic instability or class based tensions. --- //[[ccooney@umw.edu|Cooney, Corey R.]] 2016/10/06 01:45// | 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, the book and film were created during The Great Depression. This could result in the** romanticising of the actual environment with galas, sort of creating this longing for the glamorous days of old, but having the protagonists undergo a great deal of personal misfortune, possibly to create a mirror for the audience that may be undergoing their own misfortunes due to economic instability or class based tensions.** --- //[[ccooney@umw.edu|Cooney, Corey R.]] 2016/10/06 01:45// |
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| ====== 5 Comparing the reading to the movie ====== | ====== 5 Comparing the reading to the movie ====== |
