Gone With The Wind Reflection

 Gone with the Wind is regarded as a timeless masterpiece and one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. The film has been honored with many accolades including eight academy awards some of which included: Best Picture, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh as Scarlett), Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel as Mammy) and so many more. McDaniel was also the first African-American to win an Oscar. This movie would also go on to become the highest grossing movie of all time worldwide. 

Gone with the Wind is a movie that takes place in the Deep South during the Civil War and follows the background of a young woman by the name of Scarlett O'Hara who is the daughter of a slave plantation owner Tara. She is characterized as stubborn and willful and she at the beginning of the movie is love with Ashley Wilkes even though he is getting married to his own cousin Melanie Hamilton. Over the course of the movie, as the Civil War rages on more and more people are lost including those close to Scarlett such as her husband Charles Hamilton who is the brother of Melanie. Charles would pass away as a result of the Measles during the war. She also becomes attracted to Rhett Butler who dances with her at a charity function during her period of mourning which went against the customary rules of mourning at the time. 

My view on Scarlett is that she transforms herself from a bratty daughter with a lot given to her by her family to become an independent strong woman who can fight for others and herself. This is evident when she goes to Atlanta and helps in one of the war hospitals in Atlanta during the burning down of the city. Another example is when she helps Melanie have her baby and also helps them escape along with her servant Prissy. She also is strong and motivated to restore her family's plantation even after it has been destroyed and her mother has passed away. 

Gone with the Wind helps us understand what life was like in the South during this time. It gives us a realistic and photographic perspective of many events that were real that were incorporated such as the burning of Atlanta. Gone with the Wind also gives a perspective on some of the stereotypes and racial treatments towards African-Americans of the time. This movie gives us all a great perspective of the Civil War from a Southern perspective and how much really occured in the South during the Civil War. This movie is a timepiece and a major part of American cinema and influenced movies that would come generations later. 

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https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gone-with-the-Wind-film-by-Fleming