GWTW

     In Gone With the Wind is a movie that focusses on the life of Scarlett Ohara, stylizing her life living on a plantation, but also the tragedies that the Civil War brought along with it as well as the hurtles she faces in regards to her love life.

    One way this move stylized life in the South was the way the movie depicted Southern life. Ohara's house is depicted as a very big and elegant house in a nice part of the South. Scarlet wears very nice clothes compared to the clothes of the African American slaves, Mammy and Prissy. This gives insight to the luxurious life Ohara lives, and we do not see how poorly the Southern slave's lives were. 

    Another stylized scene in this movie, was the scene when Rhett leaves Scarlett to join the war. The movie stylizes the speech he gives her as she begs him to stay because although he pours his heart out to her, when he comes back Scarlet had changed and the both of them struggle with grasping their feelings towards one another. Their separation scene and exchange of words in that time made it seem like they were meant to be together, when in reality it would just pull them more apart. 

    The way the slaves were depicted in the movie in a more stylized way than they really were in society at that time. 

    Mammy was depicted as being a loyal slave as well as a good caregiver. She gives her owners guidance and acts as a mentor to them, especially Scarlet and her complex relationships. For example, she gives Scarlett advice about her feelings about Ashley Wilkes. She gives her advice on the conflict about pursuing someone who does not want her. She gives her good guidance about keeping in mind her reputation and what her consequences could be. 

    After the war Mammy stays the same way even after the war by demonstrating her caregiving attributes. Scarlett has a lot she is dealing with following the war. Losing her house and the ongoing chaos makes her needs an advisor, who Mammy acts as in this case. Mammy reminds her how important family is and gives her advice on dealing with the horrible occurrence. Instead of acting arrogant towards Scarlett and her family for losing their home and not having the perfect life they had, she supports Scarlett.

    This leads me to believe that the filmmakers left out the horrible aspects of slavery, and covered it up by making up for it by adding the horrible aspects of the war. 

    Mammy's guidance to Scarlett helped shape her evolve into the person she is after the effects of the war. 

    In the beginning of the film, Scarlett portrays a usual stereotyped Southerner, selfish, un-empathetic of people around her, and greedy. She does not care about anyone, sometimes not even herself, as her main focus is on Ashley Wilkes’ approval. 

    Her attitude towards life is changed as she has to adapt to her new life during and post-war. She learns about how to appreciate her family and her house, Tara. She gains self-respect by letting go of the idea of Ashley and that there are more important things than a man who does not even want her. This leads her into a strong, healthy relationship with Rhett. 

    These all show personal growth for the best for Scarlett, her family, and the slaves that worked for them. These changes were shaped by the hardships she faced. She lost people she loved and witnessed a war first hand and this causes extensive change in her personality and values. 

    Rhett Butler's response to the war will have different opinions from different people. His response to profit from the war could be seen as either smart or selfish. I believe that although his action in running a blockade to sell goods highlight his economic brightness by profiting him exceedingly. This also does highlight his ability to make something good from a dreadful disaster, which some could see as an impressive act to highlight his intelligence. 

    Watching this movie eighty years after it was made, the idea of profiting off of the war is not an unexpected undertaking. In todays society, this action would not be considered nonsensical. With advancing technology, especially the length it has from the time the movie was made, it is a lot more common to see people making efforts to profit off of tragic events like for example, a war. Unlike at the time, people like to gain popularity or profit off of posting videos of catastrophic things like a war. Programs like "go-fund-me" and pity comments on social media posts act as motivators for people to act as overlookers, instead of partaking in a solution to end the problem, in this case, joining the war to fight for the end. 

    The movie demonstrates how the effects of a war can alter a persons lifestyle, causing people to change and discover new things about themselves. The movie displays a real life comparison between motivations in todays society versus the society when the film was made. The people in the film are changed throughout the film in direct means, and the way society runs changes drastically from the time the film was made and society today obliquely.