Gone with the Wind Reconsidered

 Sunday, October 19th, 2025 

Gone with the Wind Reconsidered

Scarlett O'Hara enlists the aid of Hattie McDaniel as she prepares to meet Rhett Butler.

I am a Freshman student at High Point University. In my Talking about Freedom class, we got to watch about 1 hour and 40 minutes of the movie Gone with the Wind. This movie really stuck with me. Now, I get to share my thoughts and what I learned from watching it. This movie made me think about different things, and I want to explain that here.

Watching Gone with the Wind really made me use my brain. The movie is set during the Civil War and shows how the war caused problems for the South and the people living there. At first, I was interested in the story and the drama between Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, but as I kept watching, I started noticing some things that made me a little confused.

Scarlett O'Hara

Scarlett’s character was the most interesting to me. She’s selfish and sometimes pretty mean to people. I get why she acted the way she did; she was trying to survive in a really tough time, but I didn’t like her decisions, especially how she treated Ashley and Melanie. It made me realize that people aren’t just good or bad; they are two-faced and act differently to each person, which felt more real to me.

The movie shows the Civil War from the South's side, making it look like a place with pride and old traditions. But it doesn't really talk about slavery or what enslaved people went through, which felt somewhat wrong to me. It seemed like the movie was leaving out important parts of history at this time. Watching it made me think about how movies can almost tell a story fully, but it sometimes leave out the full truth.

One thing I noticed was how the movie portrayed the hardships of life during and after the war. The destruction, losing family, and trying to rebuild everything felt really real. It wasn’t just battles but about real people struggling to survive, and that made the story more emotional for me. I felt like I could almost connect to the movie in my own personal life and family.

Rhett Butler

The romance between Scarlett and Rhett was wild and full of problems, but it didn’t always feel healthy. Rhett would be very disrespectful, and Scarlett was way too focused on Ashley missing what was actually important. Their relationship made me realize that they need to start focusing on respecting one another.

Gone with the Wind is a movie I would watch again, especially if it's in the theater again. The characters did an amazing job; it shows how opinions back then don't match what we believe now. It made me want to learn more about the real history and think about how movies shape the way we see the past.

In the end, with the parts we watched, the movie left me with mixed feelings. I admired the characters’ strength and the big story, but I also felt confused by how it handled history. It reminded me that history is complicated and stories don’t always tell the full truth. Watching this movie was a chance for me to think about how we remember the past and how important it is to question what we see. It’s a movie that sticks with you and makes you think about both the good and the hard parts of history and people.

Disclosure- This blog post is my personal opinion and reflection on the movie Gone with the Wind. While writing, I used Grammarly’s spellchecker to help with any spelling or grammar mistakes and make my writing clearer. However, all thoughts and ideas are my own.