Yesterday marked the 70th anniversary of the premiere of Gone With the Wind. Earlier in the week, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Why We Give a Damn About Scarlett," which described the film's enduring popularity and the conflicted emotions it has inspired.
I must admit that my appreciation for this film grows upon each viewing. The first time I saw it was in elementary school; for some reason my classmates and I were required to watch it. It took two days. After the first day, I dreaded watching the second half of the film because I hated Scarlett. She was such a horrible brat, I couldn't understand why Rhett, Melanie, and the others kept hanging around her. After this viewing experience, I decided that I hated Gone With the Wind.
However, subsequent viewings have allowed me to see past the brattiness and appreciate Scarlett's full character, as well as the subtleties of the story. However, her single-minded pursuit of Ashley Wilkes continues to vex me, no matter how many times I've seen it. As the film apporaches the end of its running time, without fail I will start to think, "Surely she has gotten over this Ashley fixation by now." Then, she approaches him in the lumber office with that intense look in her eye and I have to exclaim, "Still?!" I suppose this reaction illustrates how powerfully the film draws in even the casual viewer. Despite a 4 hour running time, once I've started I find it hard not to watch the whole thing.
Will any films from 2009 be so well remembered 70 years from now? My personal experience has been that this was not a great year for the movies; and it certainly can't hold a candle to 1939, when Gone With the Wind as well as many other classics were released. The 2009 Golden Globe nominations were also announced this week, and just looking over the list of nominated films proves that this was a year of slim pickings. I hate to make lofty predictions, but I doubt we'll be celebrating the anniversary of It's Complicated in 70 years.
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