Gone With The Wind

Last night I was surfing through the guide on my television looking for something to watch.  I stumbled onto a classic, Gone With The Wind.  Luckily, I caught it right before it was starting and was able to start recording it too, just in case I couldn't make it through the entire movie.  If you have never seen it, it is a four hour movie!  I also saw on channel 2 there was a 30 minute show by Kirk Cameron on and decided to record it to watch this morning - we will discuss Kirk in another blog.

Gone With The Wind....ahhhh where do I start? If you haven't seen it, you should and I don't want to ruin it for you. *This is your cue to quit reading or get prepared for my KrissyNotes (my version of the movie)* Let's get started then, shall we? 

Setting:
The South during the Civil War time period

Characters I want to focus on;
Scarlet, Ashlee, Rhett and Melanie

*KrissyNotes:
In the deep south lives a girl named Scarlett, Scarlet is in love with Ashlee and she believes that Ashlee loves her.  Please note; Scarlet could have any boy she wants but has her heart set on Ashlee.  However, right before a picnic she finds out that he is going to announce his engagement to Melanie, who you should know is his cousin.  This sets in motion a lifetime of misery for Scarlet! Little does she know Rhett, who was at the picnic, saw her and fell in love with her on sight. Soon after Ashlee announces his engagement to Melanie, Scarlet corners Ashlee and confesses her undying love for him.  In return he asks her to look after Melly while he goes off to war.  Scarlet then asks practically the first guy she comes across to marry her.  WOW!  Okay, so Ashlee's and Scarlet's new husband go off to war. Melly and Scarlet go off to Atlanta to stay with Melly's Aunt. Scarlet gets word that her husband was sadly killed in the war, however, she is not so sad but must pretend to be in mourning. There's a fundraiser dance in town for the hospital and Scarlet sneaks on over to it. Low and behold Rhett is there and dances the night away with her.  Next thing you know, Ashlee is back on a 3 day leave and Scarlett is soooo happy. All Ahslee cares about is spending time with his wife. He goes back to war and Melanie discovers she is pregnant.  She has a difficult time and almost dies. The same night she gives birth the Yankees are moving in fast and Scarlet summons Rhett to take her, Melly and the new baby back to "Tara" which is the home she grew up in.  They go home find the house in ruins but somehow manage to bring everything back to life. Fast forward, the war is over the Confederates surrender and Ashlee comes home.  Scarlet is so excited but again, he rejects her for his wife.  He admits to loving her but not in the way she wants and again she marries someone else - this time she marries a man who her sister was going to marry.  He gets himself killed....again she has to act as if she's in mourning.  Rhett comes and saves the day and she marries him. She goes on and on still pining away for Ashlee.  Rhett is deeply in love with her but she can't love him back because, well, you know.  Eventually, they have a child...Bunny (love it) and when she is about five years old, she dies...then Melly says she is pregnant and subsequently dies.  Scarlet is sad and after Ashlee says a few words about Melly, Scarlet realizes that he never felt the way he lead her to believe and she realizes that she really does love Rhett...but it's too late and this is pretty much the end of the story...except for the final famous line, "Frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn!"

My Take on Gone With The Wind:
The first time I watched this movie I loved it but didn't read too much into it.  This all changed for me last night because I read a whole lot into it.  For instance, I think Scarlet was a cross between a black widow and Hester Prynne - hence the name Scarlet!  Let's face it, all of her husbands bit the bust soon after marrying her and she did not give a hoot.  She spent her entire life wasted on loving a man that would never loved her back.  In addition to that, she missed out on the one man who truly loved her. 

Melanie (Melly) was so naive and apparently a huge fan of Scarlet.  She constantly defended her no matter what.  However, you just can't help but love her.

Ashlee, well, shoot, I just don't know.  He is somewhat guilty of leading Scarlet on all those years.  I think he enjoyed the attention and the way he could manipulate her to do whatever he wanted knowing she was madly in love with him. 

Rhett, He was an incredibly rich, handsome man.  Who stupidly thought he could make Scarlet love him.  I guess he was successful but by the time Scarlet realized it, too late.

In conclusion, I understand Scarlet's struggles but man did she have some serious issues!

Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity