Gone With the Wind

About a week ago, we, CAP 10 students, were asked to write about something that we are truly passionate about. So I thought to myself, what am I passionate about? What do I like to do? Well, one of my favorite things to do is to watch films. As weird or unique as it sounds, I love watching different films, and tend to have strong opinions about the characters and storylines. I decided to dedicate my first creative blog post to one of my favorite films of all time, Gone With the Wind.

I have seen Gone With the Wind a countless number of times. And yes, I can sit through the entire four hours of the film. I find it an inspiring masterpiece that everybody should definitely see at lesat once. Gone With the Wind is a masterpiece about the story of a young woman, Scarlett O'Hara, during the Civil War and post-Civil War period. The film is based off of the book of the same title written by Margaret Mitchell (which I am in the middle of. It is amazing!) The storyline is extremely conplex, but since it is so brilliant, I will summarize it.

Before the Civil War, Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) is a wealthy, southern belle who lives an extravagant life. She believes that she is in love with a family friend's son, Ashley, who is engaged to another woman. Her life is turned upside down when the Civil War breaks out. Scarlett meets Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), a dashing and scandalous blockade runner. He falls madly in love with her but she refuses to return his affections, because she is not willing to let go of her "love" for Ashley. The reason why I put "love" in quotation marks is because she doesn't really love Ashley. Throughout the entire film, she believes she is in love with Ashley, but the viewers of the film know that Scarlett and Rhett obviously belong together (this is the only part I find frustrating about the film, that Scarlett cannot realize that she belongs with Rhett. But I guess that is one of the plot points that makes the story so unique and innovative). By the end of the war, Scarlett is forced to work to support her family. The whole time, Rhett is standing by her (and you're rooting for him to finally win her over); however, she still refuses to return his love for her and by the time she realizes that....well, I won't give away the ending.

If I had to pick my favorite film character of all time, it would undoubtedly be Scarlett O'Hara. Her character is so headstrong, courageous, confident and strong willed. She is the strongest fictional female character ever created. Although she can be manipulative and backstabbing, her strong will and bravery is what many females, including me, look up to.

Rhett Butler is the dashing and charming "bad boy" who falls madly in love with Scarlett, who does not return his affection because she will not let go of her love for Ashley. He is not afraid to speak his mind and is just hilarious because he is so sarcastic, yet not afraid to tell the truth. In a nutshell, Rhett Butler is prince charming. I seriously think that a new expression should be invented in honor of Rhett Butler: instead of saying something like, "I've married my prince charming," one should say, "I've married my Rhett Butler." He is just that ideal.

The beauty of Gone With the Wind is its power to inspire those who watch it. Its message of never giving up (as cheesy as it sounds) is beautifully conveyed through the iconic character of Scarlett O'Hara.It is not only a beautiful story, but I've learned so much about the Civil War from it as well. The conplexity and meaningfulness of the story is breathtaking. Gone With the Wind is a cinematic masterpiece, and everyone should definitely watch it at least once.