Gone with the Wind
1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.
In class, we discussed Black Cinema and Gone with the Wind. In mainstream Hollywood, black actors were mostly cast as extras, the help, or happy/funny characters. They were never given serious and were rarely cast as a main character in films.They were usually only cast in musicals or comedies. Blackface was a major thing white actors would use to portray black characters. Several films with black casts were made between the years of 1915 and 1950, which were funded by black producers or white supporters. Gone with the Wind gave black actors an opportunity to have major roles in a dramatic film. Actress Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to win an Academy Award, which she won for best supporting actress in the film, Gone with the Wind.
2) Find a related article (on the film, directed, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, ect.) You can use the library or the internet. Cite the article or copy the url to your journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not plagiarize any content.
The article I found expresses how racist the film was. The New York Post film critic Lou Lumenick states that the film romanticizes slavery and the confederate south. If we continue to celebrate the film, then we are giving an okay to slavery and not addressing it as a serious issue.
3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.
With the discussion in class about black cinema, I do agree with the article. Although this movie is considered the "greatest movie ever made" by almost ever critic and viewer, Gone with the Wind does romanticized the portrayal of the South during and after the Civil War. The depiction of black people in the film make it seem as if they were happy to serve white people and did not want to be free after the Civil War.
4) Write a critical analysis of the film , including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text materials and the article.
Despite the film being nearly four hours long, Gone with the Wind is an epic tale of love and loss. The plot is what catches the attention of the audience. You go through all these phases of each character's life and it is such a personal touch that you feel like you know these characters and they are actual people. I have to admit, I did not follow along at the beginning, but by the end of the first act, I was hooked. I could not wait to continue the story line of Scarlett. I do not enjoy viewing the depiction of slaves or the glorification rape in Rhett and Scarlett's marriage, but I do understand that this was filmed in a completely different time frame than where the world is in today.
CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM
1) (x) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.
2) (x) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.
3) (x) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.
4) (x) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.
5) (x) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.
6) (x) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.
7) (x) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.
8) (x) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.
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