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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Gone With the Wind really isn't a romantic film?

185 replies

FestiveFruitloop · 27/12/2023 13:10

Just finished watching it, hadn't ever seen it all the way through before. Toxic/abusive relationships, marital rape depicted positively (WTF??), racism and misogyny, manipulative characters... all I can say is I hope it's no longer considered romantic in this day and age. AIBU?

OP posts:
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6
Americano75 · 27/12/2023 13:11

The book's much worse.

Birdcar · 27/12/2023 13:12

You are absolutely right.
It hasn't aged well and it shows how bad things were that it wasn't viewed they way it is now.

FuzzyPuffling · 27/12/2023 13:13

It's wrong on almost every level. And a dreadful film/acting too.

glossylippsthickhips · 27/12/2023 13:14

I told my partner to change the channel once I realised it was on. I've heard not so good things about it and he is none the wiser... 🤷‍♀️

crackofdoom · 27/12/2023 13:15

I haven't seen the film for ages, but reread the book a while ago, and bloody hell its depiction of the end of slavery being disastrous for the social contract and the Ku Klux Klan effectively being heroes are pretty jarring, to say the least 😬.

derxa · 27/12/2023 13:15

It’s one of my favourite films. It’s a story about resilience.

Exasperatednow · 27/12/2023 13:17

It was never meant to be romantic. It's an epic saga

crackofdoom · 27/12/2023 13:18

I wonder how a modern remake, perhaps seen through the eyes of different characters and informed by current attitudes on female oppression, racism and slavery would go down? Could be really interesting....

FuzzyPuffling · 27/12/2023 13:19

I have informed my husband that is anything a bit nasty happens (rain on washing, bin not emptied?) I shall scream and faint.

Tilllly · 27/12/2023 13:20

It's a product of its time

I'm not sure I ever thought of it as romantic, anymore than wuthering heights

@derxa is right, it's a story of resilience
Of tenacity, of women looking after themselves after generations of being cosseted

The book is better by far than the film but the film is an epic

That it reflects attitudes we have moved on from, should be a cause for us to celebrate. Not ban it in shocked outrage, which I think has happened before

HappyBusman · 27/12/2023 13:22

It was never tended as a ‘romantic film’, though — it’s a historical epic and family saga with a woman’s romantic decisions as a central thread. Peoole forget how many people Scarlett actually makes a pass at/ marries. She’s obsessed with Ashley, marries his younger brother, is widowed, uses Rhett to make Ashley jealous, makes another pass at Ashley, then marries her younger sister’s dopey fiancé, is widowed again, and even after she finally marries Rhett, she’s still involved with Ashley etc etc.

It was just the star casting of Clark Gable that makes his role more prominent than n the novel, especially as Leslie Howard was such a weed as Ashley.

Thinking it’s supposed to be a romance is like thinking Wuthering Heights is a romance.

HappyBusman · 27/12/2023 13:23

Tilllly · 27/12/2023 13:20

It's a product of its time

I'm not sure I ever thought of it as romantic, anymore than wuthering heights

@derxa is right, it's a story of resilience
Of tenacity, of women looking after themselves after generations of being cosseted

The book is better by far than the film but the film is an epic

That it reflects attitudes we have moved on from, should be a cause for us to celebrate. Not ban it in shocked outrage, which I think has happened before

X-post, WH is a good comparison.

Maireas · 27/12/2023 13:25

I like the way they refer to the Klan meetings as "political meetings".

GreatGateauxsby · 27/12/2023 13:28

derxa · 27/12/2023 13:15

It’s one of my favourite films. It’s a story about resilience.

Agreed.

It's an absolutely incredible and epic movie.
Possibly one of the best ever made.

Scarlett is a complex and evolving character.

Yes a huge amount of it isn't "palatable" especially by modern standards.

Shawshank redemption is another AMAZING movie. Huge amount of it is based around very unpleasant topics too.

x2boys · 27/12/2023 13:29

I don't think it was ever supposed to be a romantic film.

LadyMacbethssweetArabianhand · 27/12/2023 13:34

Scarlett was not a likeable heroine but a strong woman who did everything she could to hang onto Tara. She became responsible for everyone at a time when that would have been seen as unusual. I like how Melanie was a fool to her. Equally strong in a different way. I agree it wasn't a romantic film but an epic one. Filmed in 1939, of course it reflected the mores of the time and was a faithful rendition of the novel, if watered down.

heartofglass23 · 27/12/2023 13:34

Most women would be better off with a Rhett than the porn addled incel men of today.

We are in no way superior enough to be looking down our noses at that culture.

Original poster
FestiveFruitloop · 27/12/2023 13:36

Yeah, content-wise I can't see why it was ever considered romantic either. I've heard various people rhapsodise about it being supposedly romantic over the years (even heard someone describe it as the most romantic film ever, once!) - it's beyond me how it could be viewed that way. I think there's a generational element to this, though.

derxa I take your point about resilience. I guess I just wish that theme was showcased within a less obnoxious story (to me anyway).

OP posts:
Allfur · 27/12/2023 13:38

Yes resilience it's its main message - tomorrow is another day

HappyBusman · 27/12/2023 13:38

heartofglass23 · 27/12/2023 13:34

Most women would be better off with a Rhett than the porn addled incel men of today.

We are in no way superior enough to be looking down our noses at that culture.

Do we get brownie points for not owning slaves and riding off to fight a war in the glorious cause of being allowed to own, buy and sell human beings, though? Hmm

Maireas · 27/12/2023 13:44

Well, that cotton just didn't pick itself, @HappyBusman . Rhett Butler sure had to attend a lot of "political meetings".

AnnaMagnani · 27/12/2023 13:51

The racism is overwhelming.

However age 10 I loved it and just saw Scarlett's awesome wardrobe.

Smugandproud · 27/12/2023 14:01

AnnaMagnani · 27/12/2023 13:51

The racism is overwhelming.

However age 10 I loved it and just saw Scarlett's awesome wardrobe.

The racism is a fair depiction of the time portrayed.
When Sammy Davis jnr performed with The Rat Pack in the 60's the theatre tried to prevent him entering through the front doors with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
The US is still very racist imo.

DNAexpert · 27/12/2023 14:04

Completely agree about the depiction of martial rape and it being a good thing. I was pretty shocked by that, I saw it a couple of years ago and still remember that scene.

stemmedroses · 27/12/2023 14:05

the Ku Klux Klan effectively being heroes are pretty jarring

But that was the case in the South during the Civil War. The Southern States wanting to maintain slavery was one of the reasons for the war.

It's so ridiculous that people don't want to see/hear the unsavoury parts of history.