producing a movie about the civil war era and not showing slavery is like producing a movie about the mafia and not showing the violence. it WAS part of the times, but the movie is not about racism, house slaves had relatively comfortable jobs as slaves compared to field hands and other slaves. again, i’m not saying it was right it just was.

this movie probably should have been called “scarlett o’hara” instead of “gone with the wind”, but the wise editors of margaret mitchell’s book thought that a character book set in the civil war era would be taken less seriously than a book about the civil war and how it changes everyone’s life. this book is completely a study of the narcissistic, hedonistic and selfish scarlett. it goes from scarlett being a conniving, beautiful, selfish, manipulating young woman to scarlett being an older and even smarter woman with the same qualities. the people that are part of scarlett’s life do little to change her view of the world and herself. even the civil war just makes scarlett more conniving because she has to work harder and smarter to get what she wants. the land that scarlett loves (her beloved home, tara), might be the only redeeming quality scarlett possesses, but even then she only loves the land for what it can do for her, not for it’s intrinsic beauty.

rhett butler is ultimately a character of redemption and change. he does start out as a scoundrel, but he joins the civil war effort and does his wheeling and dealing to benefit the boys fighting. he comes back into scarlett’s life and city to woo her, but her mind is on the next person who will further her desires. rhett continues to get scarlett out of trouble and win the respect of the community, because he wants to win the respect of scarlett. he see’s her as an exciting woman, one on par with himself, but he wants her to have the goodness and moral character a complete woman should possess. he wants her to grow up! he marries her finally and that is a comedy of miscommunication, uncommunication and battle of wills. he courts the members of society so his child will be accepted and grow up a part of that society. scarlett scoff at this. she doesn’t care what society thinks, only how much power and money she can amass. after their child is killed in an accident, rhett realizes scarlett will never change and leaves her with his infamous words.

you miss the emergence of probably the first “hooker with a heart of gold” characterization in belle watling, rhett’s prostitute friend. you miss the excitement of war talk, the bravado of the young tarleton twins who predict a glorious rise of the south after the war. you miss the horror of the rows of dead and dying soldiers laying outside a battlefield hospital. you miss rhett buying mammy a red petticoat to win her over and making her lift her skirt an inch to show him that she is wearing it.

because an epic is so magnificent and huge in scope, sometimes you overlook all the moments that give it meaning and charm and importance.

but i think it should just make you look harder for those moments.