I recognized, on my own, after watching Gone with the Wind last weekend that this movie features characters similar to or based on those found in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. For instance, Mammy is a very dark complexioned affectionate motherly type woman who takes care of Scarlett. Then there is Big Sam. He was the one who rescued Scarlett from being kidnapped or worse when she drives her carriage through shantytown alone. This movie also references the slaves as darkies and portrays them to be lazy and carefree with the character Miss Prissy.
The film Gone with the Wind was made in 1939 and was adapted from the novel by Margaret Mitchell. The book and film portray a very romanticized version of the antebellum south. When the film debuted in Georgia it was celebrated with a three day festival. Some black people were recruited to dress as slaves and sing in a choir to help promote the film. Among this choir was a child named Martin Luther King Jr. who later became a great civil rights leader.
Like the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin Gone with the Wind has also come under fire for the ways it stereotypes blacks, with its characters I previously noted as being similar to the ones in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This movie also deals with the topic of forced sex when Rhett forces himself on Scarlett and a pregnancy is the result. I found Gone with the Wind and Uncle Tom’s Cabin to have many similarities even though; Uncle Tom’s Cabin’s purpose is to villainize slavery and Gone with the Wind does more to romanticize it.
You can learn more about Gone with the Wind here
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I named him after Bruce Wayne
Bruce the Bat Cat
I named him after Bruce Wayne
About Me
- lmabernathy
- I am a Distance Learning Facilitator at the High School I graduated from. I love my job!!! I get to play with a remote control all day. I also have a horse farm. I board three horses and have 5 of my own. I trail ride, show, lease, and do b-day parties with my horses. Its a great way to make a little extra money.
3 comments:
That's a very interesting link back to Uncle Tom's Cabin. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the film makers at MGM were heavily influenced by Stowe's characters.
I've never read the book, and GWTW is one of those films I just can't sit through. Yeah, I know it's a "classic", I guess the lack of appeal is a failing on my part.
It's not the era either, because Oz is my all time favorite film and I love MGM films from the later 30's early 40's. Of course my MGM fascination could be just a Garland thing, but I digress.
Thanks!
Tom
I also watched Gone With the Wind last weekend. It's one of my favorites. The scene when Rhett forces himself on Scarlett sends so many mixed messages. She rejects him so he forces himself on her, she's happy about it in the morning and then he rejects her--those two could never be on the same wavelength.
I read Gone With the Wind and Uncle Tom's Cabin at approximately the same time. I completely agree with your assessment that GWTW romanticizes slavery--I remember feeling that the slaves were loved and part of the family whereas in rereading UTC I felt the same horror and misery at the slaves lives. Even in homes where there was a sympathetic master or mistress, you still know that they and their children are only property and can be sold at a moments notice, depending on the financial climate or even personal whims.
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