Why “Gone With The Wind” is Still My Favorite Movie
I acknowledge, and regret, its racism. I celebrate its achievements.
I was around 15 years old when I first saw Gone With The Wind. My mother rented it, and together, we watched all four-plus hours of videotape. I remember at the break just before intermission, when the first tape ran out, I said, “What an amazing film!” And then my mother said, “It’s not over yet!” I’d thought that once Scarlett said, “As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again!” and the music swelled, that was it. She’d survived the Civil War, and she was on a new path, right?
And then we dug in for another two hours.
Mom and I watched the movie countless times after that. I’ve seen it so many times that I know most of the words by heart. It is my favorite film of all time, and while there are many others that I love, there’s a special place in my heart for GWTW.
I am white, and I have always hated the depiction in GWTW of racial stereotypes depicting the black characters as lesser-than, mentally inferior, “happy” with their lot as slaves, and well-meaning but stupid. I was raised in a world where men and women of color were my father’s colleagues: doctors. I knew they were not stupid people. So I could not understand why the film would depict the characters of…
