Gone With the Wind

The 4 hours of Gone With the Wind might seem daunting, but that shouldn't deter you from watching. Every hour is worth it, and as a whole this movie definitely deserves its ranking of #4 on the AFI 100 Best Movies list. Based off of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, the movie follows the life of Miss Scarlett, a southern country belle living during the Civil War. She is hopelessly in love with Arthur Wilkes who is about to marry her friend Melanie. After being rejected by Arthur she marries Charles Hamilton, who enlists in the war and then dies of sickness before even seeing battle. In her mourning she visits Melanie, who is pregnant with her first child. While in Atlanta with Melanie, they hear news of the Yankees coming, and right after Melanie gives birth, Scarlett employs the help of Rhett Butler to get them back to Tara. He gets them safely out of Atlanta, and before leaving them, he tells Scarlett he loves her, kisses her, and gets a slap across the face. Left alone with Melanie, the baby, and Prissy, Scarlett keeps going, determined to get to her home at Tara. The war has destroyed most of the South, and they have almost nothing left to live off of, but the women finally return to Tara, and Scarlett decrees, "As God is my witness, I shall never be hungry again!" This is one of the most well-known lines from the movie and one of the more powerful scene. Scarlett knows how to survive, and she is determined to survive everything. When she needs money to save Tara, she marries Frank Kennedy, an old friend and local store owner. She becomes an independent woman, even driving her own wagon. After Frank is shot trying to defend her honor, she takes over his lumber business with Ashley, focused on making money so she never has to be hungry. She then marries Rhet Butle, and has a daughter named Bonnie. Even though she is married to Rhet, she can never get Ashley out of her mind. After Bonnie's death, their marriage breaks apart. Melanie dies during childbirth, and when Scarlett goes to Ashley, she realizes he never truly loved her like she had hoped. She also realizes she loves Rhet, but she realizes too late. Rhet has had enough, and when she asks him what to do now that he's leaving her, he responds with another famous line: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," and he leaves without looking back. The movie ends with Scarlett heading back to Tara, the land she gets her strength from, and keeping faith in tomorrow and what it will bring.

Scarlett O'Hara is an incredible character. She is strong-willed and determined, very atypical of woman in that age. She does not need to rely on a husband to survive; she is independent and resourceful. Most of the other woman in the movie hate her. She takes their betrothed; she does things her own way, but if she wasn't so strong, she would not have survived the war.

Gone With the Wind is the kind of movie that gradually pulls you in. You might not realize until the end, but you become invested in the characters and their well being. I found myself overwhelmed and upset when Rhet left her. You cheer for them and you pity them. 4 hours is a lot of time, and throughout those hours you really get to know the characters. They are all so well-developed: from Melanie, known for being kind-hearted and altruistic, to Mamie, the slave woman who stands by the O'Hara family until the end. You get to see the hardness of war. You see pain and suffering, but you also see endurance and pride. It's a movie about the strength of one woman as she survives all the world throws at her. It really is a movie you have to see, every hour is worth it.