Are you ready for the heresy? I don’t like Gone with the Wind. Oh, I respect it and its place in movie history, but some things just don’t do it for some people and four hours of Southern melodrama doesn’t do it for me. Perhaps that is because four hours of Southern melodrama, to me, represents…..one sixth of a normal day. At any rate, why am I featuring the film if I don’t like it? It was my wife’s favorite movie, and yesterday the site was dark because it was the one-year anniversary of her passing.
I have watched, with the exception of The Lord of the Rings, more “making of” features for GWTW than any other movie in history. I know an unholy amount of triva about it. The first Christmas present I bought my wife was a signed photo of Olivia de Havilland from the film. Point being: if it was going to catch on with me it would have, but that’s not why we’re featuring it today. It’s most iconic (and scandalous at the time) line is still known by pretty much everyone who goes to movies, and after 80 years, that should answer the question as to whether classic films will stand the test of time like fine literature does. This one is for my wife (and she is completely as incensed in Heaven as one can be for not being able to write it herself) and for a film that has lived on as an American institution since before the second World War.
I don’t like Gone With the Wind either, mostly because I’ve always thought that Scarlett O’Hara was a psychopath/sociopath. But I agree with you, you still have to admire it. I wish that “Frankly my dear…” were the last line of the movie instead of “Tomorrow is another day,” but it’s still one of those incredible moments 8 decades later.
I am so, so sorry about your wife and I hope you are holding up.
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It’s a day by day thing but she’s the reason the blog exists so it seemed fitting to honor her favorite film in such a way as to cause her irritation beyond the veil. I did love teasing that woman. She’d appreciate it and we’re spared a 1200 word comment on how stupid her hubby is lol.
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When you watch a great movie with someone you care about you’ve shared something special, and watching a movie with someone can form a bond, too. Whenever I watch a film that I know was a favorite of a person who has passed on, it brings so much back. The strange and wonderful thing is when you find yourself laughing at a funny movie, or a funny scene. It’s a good way to celebrate a person’s life.
I’ve been meaning to show Gone With the Wind to a guy I know who’s never seen it, and portrait of sociopathy or not, it’s a crime that there is such a gaping hole in his film knowledge. I’m going to push for seeing it this weekend, and even though I never knew your wife I will think of her, and try to see all that’s good in the film.
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Well she knew you and liked you from your posts and I think that’s a great idea. I always recall who I saw my favorite films with.
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The film is ranked high on my favorites of all time. The”sociopath”,struggled against her own self worth. A tragic tale of self sabatoge on a level understood by this viewer
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Well, it was my wife’s favorite film, so I have heard everything there is to hear on why I’m an idiot for not liking it, but yet….still I do not.
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