GONE WITH THE WIND (REACTION POST)

 

Scarlett O'Hara is sitting while two young men try to catch her attention

Let's talk about the characters of this film. 

Scarlett O'Hara, a young beautiful woman in the south, is the main character of the film. In my opinion, she is selfish, manipulative and has always gotten what she wants without any problem. 

Her entire identity is built around being the most desired woman in the community, and she flirts with every man in her sight despite not being interested in them whatsoever. 

There is only one man she wants: Ashley Wilkes. Scarlett cannot have Ashley, and Scarlett is not willing to let him go. 

Ashley gets married to another woman, and throughout the movie, it becomes more obvious that Scarlett likes Ashley for what he symbolizes not for who he actually is. 

There is one man in particular that seeks interest in Scarlett: Rhett Butler. 

He is an outsider from Charleston who is blunt and does not fit in with the normal crowd. 

In this film, he is the realist, while talking to the other men, he states blankly that there was no winning against the North - which made the others angry, but it was true. 

He actually did not believe in the cause at all - but he was making money from it, and he got involved. 

I think the reason Rhett finds himself drawn to Scarlett is because he can see himself in her, and he sees right through her helpless act. 

He goes to her and points out the facts and tells her what he sees - which is that she didn't need to pretend to be a lady, and that she can be independent, and most importantly, he tells her that her love for Ashley is a fantasy. 

Another character worth mentioning is Mammy, the enslaved house servant at the O'Hara household. 

Mammy was fierce and stern - she was not afraid to tell Scarlett how it really was. 

Similarly to Rhett, Mammy sees right through Scarlett, but she wants to keep the act convincing. 

She consistently scolds Scarlett and holds her own throughout the film, and she is one of the most vivid characters in the entirety of the film. 

Each of these characters show hidden meaning within the film - and send important messages to the viewer.

In my eyes, Scarlett represents the South itself. We see her suffering, her hunger, and the loss of her home - much like what the entirety of the south is going through. 

To the viewer this brings the emotional aspect of the movie - and it puts the perspective of the damage the war caused for the South

While Scarlett chooses to rebel, her rebellion still has its limits. She tends to break social expectations, but what she wants still correlates with what society expects: money, status and a husband). 

She still represents rebellion in some way but not in a way that challenges society. 

Through Rhett, I noticed that the film was critiquing Southern arrogance, not the society itself. The Southerners had a lot of pride, but Rhett was brave enough to challenge them knowing they will lose but he never said it was wrong, so the morality aspect is still unchallenged.