Comments | traceroo: Epiphany About "Gone With The Wind" -- yeah, a year later. Sue me.

traceroo

Epiphany About "Gone With The Wind" -- yeah, a year later. Sue me.

Sep 23, 2008 09:26

slavery or states rights?, guildhall, tv, what i'm reading

Comments 8

moosea1 September 23 2008, 15:11:44 UTC

Interesting Gone with the Wind though. You know me, I'm almost always game to jump in on issues of southern history ( ... )

Bad treatment is bad business! traceroo September 23 2008, 15:23:03 UTC

You make a really excellent point about the business angle on this! Good consideration.

I'm chewing on this issue both as one of the historical question (always ongoing in this household, you know it!) -- but also a literary one. What was Mitchell really trying to say here ( ... )

Re: Bad treatment is bad business! moosea1 September 23 2008, 15:36:14 UTC

Interesting point. I've often wondered why she would write a book where the heroine is such a terrible person. And why was it so popular anyway? Is it a modern perception that Scarlet is terrible but for the time she seemed strong and modern and admirable? Maybe I should re-read it at some point.

Re: Bad treatment is bad business! traceroo September 23 2008, 15:44:15 UTC

You know, then my mind starts to whirl as when I consider time travel. Mitchell published this in the 20s, I think, right? So, on the heels of the Women's Awesomeness movement, did that contempoary audience perceive Scarlett as very strong and admirable? I find that difficult to believe, honestly. In fact, the further back you go in time, the more shocking her behavior seems. Even now I'm having trouble balancing the idea that any character could be admired for being good in business and getting things done when they're such a shit personally -- female or male. But given both the time of publication and the setting of the story, a woman taking that role is so much MORE shocking! Is she supposed to be like the Mad Max of her time, chaining the guy's leg to the car about to explode, but leaving him with a chainsaw if he wants to saw his own leg off? Is she intended to be shocking?

Don't reread it. She'll annoy you.

T.

Thread 7

khudgins September 24 2008, 17:21:46 UTC

I'm not going to justify or apologize for slavery - it was a wrong practice, and I'm glad it's gone; however, it's a part of our culture and heritage, and the best thing we can do as rational citizens is to understand it and learn from it the effect it has had, positive and negative, on everyone that has been affecter by it. (Which is pretty much everyone ( ... )