Gone with the Wind (1939)

So, that was Gone with the Wind, was it?  Far more complicated than I expected.  On just about every level.  I don't even know where to begin.

I guess I'll start with Scarlett.  Lots of people seem to hate her (such as my wife).  I didn't.  I didn't like her either - she's hardly a very sympathetic person (and would likely scorn you for pitying her).  But I think the movie's portrayal of her speaks well of it, and is indicative of its general approach.  While there are rose-colored glasses aplenty for the fairy tale of the Old South and especially that whole slavery thing, regarding its leads I found the movie impressively observant and even handed.  Scarlett is simply presented as a hard-headed woman with "gumption," as the novel's author, Margaret Mitchell, put it; neither demonized nor sugar-coated.  The consequences of her actions do not leave any single, simplistic conclusion to draw about her, except that she's complicated and willful and fun to watch.  As Garry Marshall put it in the movie Soapdish: "Stable?  I'm stable.  Who wants to watch me on television?"

Gone With the Wind (1939)

Let me preface this review by saying that the movie wasn't as bad as I remembered it being.  Don't get me wrong - I still didn't like it - but this time I dislike it for different reasons than I used to.  This is interesting to me, because ordinarily if I don't like a movie I simply never watch it again.  So this is quite possibly the first time I've ever rewatched a movie I didn't like, and therefore I am a bit surprised at what I took away from it.