I cannot stand myself not to write this in my own blog after viewing Gone with the Wind (1939) two nights ago. I dislike the movie and the novel so much; I could not comprehend how the novel became the best-seller ever. Yes, I’ve read reviews of GWTW, and I still could not get it. Yes, GWTW depicted the polar opposites of human quality: selfishness (through Scarlett O’Hara) and every merits a woman can have (Melanie Wilkes). Margaret Mitchell was also very fair to give Scarlett her own quality of resilience and stubbornness that saved her from starvation and the downfall of Atlanta Atlanta
But there are major things that made me winch upon GWTW: slavery and racism issue. I understand where Mitchell, a Southerner, came from, and when the novel was written; 1936 (won Pulitzer in 1937) – where racism against black – or, to be politically correct here, Afro-Americans – was still very much apparent in the
The novel also described the birth of Klu Klux Klan, an idea I abhor so much, I could not help wondering why people still love GWTW up to this day. And this is from an Asian girl talking. What about the Afro-Americans in the United States
But all those stuffs still did not make me like the movie or the novel. I detest the idea of slavery; it is wrong, even though it was very possible that many Southerners during the Civil War did not torture their slaves. Yeah… perhaps. Just perhaps. For to me, a novel should be able to teach us something good. And so far that I’ve learned from GWTW was that slavery was wrong (yeah, I got that idea already for some time…) and that you cannot be a spoiled girl like Scarlett, hoping that your life will somehow turn better because a Clark Gable pulled a Rhett Butler on you. Life does not work that way. Thank God for Abraham Lincoln. What a man he was! Not many giants like that walk around the world anymore… (well, I can add some people like Al Gore, Dalai Lama, Ki Hadjar Dewantara, Mahatma Gandhi, Anand Krishna, etc on the list…but surely we need more).
Now, going back to the title: versus Little Women. What about it?
Well, to me, Little Women (1868) is the symbol of perfection and hope in the Civil War era. I learned of woman’s kindness through Marmee, intelligence, stubbornness and resilience through Jo March, friendship through Jo and Teddy/Laurie Lawrence, and sisterhood through Jo-Meg-Beth-Amy. I learned of sacrifice through Jo cutting her hair to obtain train ticket for Marmee. I learned of a father’s love through Mr. Marsh who still kept writing letters for his family during his war days, defending the idea of freedom of slavery. In short: the novel and movie of Little Women inspired me much.
Yes, there are flaws. Meg wanted to look good in front of her friends (well, most teenagers are like that, still). Jo was oblivious to Teddy’s love and, if I have it my way, I would re-write it to be Jo-Teddy instead of Jo-Bhaer (interestingly, ‘Teddy’ and ‘Bhaer’ have connotations with bear…). Thank God for fan-fictions…
Plus: Scarlett O'Hara is definitely NOT my heroine. I have to restrain myself from slapping her if I meet her in this modern life. But, Josephine March and Marmee are my heroines of the Civil War era. They were just... superbly amazing.
And where the heck is my Little Women OST? It has not arrived yet!
2 comments:
i LOVED Gone With the Wind, both book and movie and understand where you're coming from but honestly, it's written from a point of view none of us outside of the deep south during this time frame will ever really know about and it has to be taken as a piece of history documenting that times hadn't changed all that much since the war ended. I also loved Little Women and enjoyed it but I forever love GWTW for it's rich characters and it's window into a world that does not exist and never will be. And the sheer struggle! If anything ever bothered me about GWTW is the way everyone thought of women, that is just insane and to read about the way they speak of women with ambition and actual brain is insulting on many levels but i take it for the time being, and smile at the progress.
The Civil War was a major turning point for women in U.S. history, both in the North and South. Women were tasked with managing things in place of the men who were at war, they were losing men that they loved to the war, and they were beginning to wonder why they didn’t get to have a say. It ignited the movement for women’s rights. Women in the south had it especially hard with a crippled economy and with only a few men returning. Most of the men who did return were broken physically or mentally so women still had to run things and had no vote. Meanwhile Northern women were rightfully bitter that after the war, southern men who raised arms against their country were pardoned and got to vote but Northern women who served their country faithfully on the homestead didn’t have that same right. I don’t think Little Women and Gone With the Wind are as different as people think they are. Both are coming of age stories during the war, both books have heroines whose truest love is to their sister(s) and both have characters who are guilty of supporting some of their society’s sins while challenging others. It was an incredibly fascinating time for women and I think both stories capture that in a meaningful way. No I don’t agree with the romanticism of the pre-war south but it’s genuinely what those people convinced themselves they represented. And obviously the racism is terrible, but I’ll tell you one thing that helps me enjoy one of the most cringe-worthy moments in GWTW the movie; That scene when Prissy is supposed to be getting the doctor to help deliver Melanie’s baby but she’s aimlessly wandering back to the house whistling like there is nothing going on. You, the viewer, are supposed to be annoyed at Prissy and feel sorry for Scarlett but I personally like to imagine that this is a calculated move by Prissy. She knows freedom is coming, the Union army is knocking on the door, I think she’s playing dumb and whistling because she’s waiting to watch the white b*tches die…. la la la la la 🎶 Hope that helps
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