Social Activism

The film that we watched allowed me to understand how terrible labor was for workers especially in textile mills. In the film Norma Rae it shows how miserable the work inside can be and how poor the conditions were. It was very loud all the time, the workers were treated like crap and were not paid well. Something had to be changed, and that is why Norma Rae stood up and tried to unionize the Textile mill. This film is based on the true story of Crystal Lee Sutton. Inside the mill, workers were picking cotton and spinning it and it was a miserable place. It even had an impact on the health of workers. In the movie it shoes Norma Rae’s mother losing her hearing. Another scene where her father actually passed away because of the work. This type of work was not worth the minimum wage and this is why Norma Rae tried to unionize it. The way this film portrays the labor made me think of how hard work was during that time. How families would have to work and work to provide for their family even though the pay was not worth it.

Norma Rae, played by Sally Field, is a young mother of two and minimum-wage worker in a cotton mill. The factory in which she works has taken too much of a toll on the health of her family for her to continue to ignore the mill’s abhorrent working conditions. After hearing a speech by New York union organizer Reuben Warshowsky. Norma Rae talks to Reuben and decides to join and persuade an effort to unionize the mill. Although she is fighting for the benefit of her community and family, Norma Rae’s dissension leads to tension at home; her husband Sonny tells her that she is not spending enough time at with her family and believes she is having an affair with Reuben. Despite the pressure brought to bear by management, Norma Rae successfully orchestrates a shutdown of the mill. One by one, the other workers stop their mill machines, and eventually, the entire room becomes silent, resulting in victory for the union and capitulation to its demands.

In the film It is set in today’s rural South, where the idea of collective bargaining is considered roughly on a par with membership in a Communist cell. Though the movie doesn’t stress this the highly publicized industrial boom in the post-World War II South was largely the result of the cheaper non-union wages that took manufacturers away from the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states.

This film won many awards as well as being nominated.

The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement is a very important time in our American History. Two films that represent this time period are Mississippi Burning and Malcolm X.  These two films showed what it was like for a black person to go through the struggle and horror during the Civil Rights Movement. In Mississippi Burning we see the white man as a powerful figure, mainly representing the Klu Klux Klan. They were a group who believed that their town was perfect the way it was. Which meant that it was okay to hassle the black people and even kill them. Notice in the film cover we see the burning cross in the background of the two FBI agents. This shows how powerful the K.K.K. was in Mississippi. In this film especially we the blacks portrayed as a weak person. Unlike the film Malcolm X where we see the black man become a very powerful figure. The Malcolm X film shows key events in his life: his criminal career, his incarceration, his conversion to Islam, his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his later falling out with the organization, his marriage to Betty X, his pilgrimage to Mecca and reevaluation of his views concerning whites, and his assassination on February 21, 1965.

In Malcolm X we see a very unique style of clothing for Malcolm as he was growing up, he was fitted in suits that were flashy, matching, wore nice big hats. This was the iconic style during this time especially in Harlem. For the black man it was all about getting dressed up, drinking, jazz music, meeting and hooking up with women, (white women). This film shows Malcolm as he has a great interest in this style. He is looking fancy, partying, hooking up with a white girl, etc.  Now take a look at after Malcolm had a life changing experience in prison and changed his whole life around. It changed his beliefs, religion, the way he looked at white people. Here is a picture of how his style of clothes changed as well. He started dressing in a normal suit and tie. 

A quote from one of our readings really gives a good idea on what the Civil Rights Movement is. “The civil rights movement circulates through American memory in forms and through channels that are at once powerful, dangerous, and hotly contested. Civil rights memorials jostle with the South’s ubiquitous monuments to its Confederate past.”

Going back to the film Mississippi Burning it shows how the local in Mississippi thought that their town was perfect the way it was. The police were not going to change, and they sure as hell did not like the fact that the FBI agents were causing so much attention being brought to their town. The scene where it shows the quick interviews of the locals really stood out to me because it showed how they were brainwashed in a sense that everything was perfectly fine. When in reality it was not, but during that time it was okay to set fire to a black family’s home. Or even to go knocking on their door in the middle of the night looking for a black man and chase them down and beat them to death. 

During the film Malcolm X I found it fascinating how a man could truly change his lifestyle. Going through everything he has been through taught him important lessons. From the powerful scene of his teacher telling him that he could never be a lawyer, to think about becoming a carpenter. To spreading his new faith and what he believed in, and holding his head high. He went from an average person to a powerful, leader that many people looked up to and believed in him.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

It is a 1956 American black-and-white science fiction film directed by Don Siegel, starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter, that was released through Allied Artists Picture Corporation. The story depicts an extraterrestrial invasion that begins in a small California town when alien plant spores grow into large seed pods, each one capable of reproducing internally a duplicate replacement copy of each human: As each pod reaches full development, it assimilates the physical characteristics, memories, and personalities of each sleeping person placed near it; these duplicates are devoid of all human emotion. Little by little, a local doctor uncovers what is occurring and tries to stop the invasion.

I find it very interesting how this film is a warning against communism. Its main theme was the alien ‘Communist’ dehumanization and take-over of an entire community by large seed pods that were being found in basements, automobile trunks, a greenhouse, and on a pool table; that replicated and replaced human beings. And it showed the heroic struggle of one helpless but determined man of conscience, a small-town doctor (McCarthy), to find a way to survive and destroy this disease.

Another theme for this film was the fear of the atomic bomb. The changes brought about by World War II were swift, and they profoundly disturbed people’s understanding of life and especially now that humanity was living in the shadow of the atomic bomb. Which would lead to the Cold War. The Cold War would lead to the “Red scare” and the danger of Communist subversion in the United States.

Looking back at the reading we had to do it talks about how Jack Finney does not analyze his culture but transfers his fear of Communism into a story of an alien invasion. An example, someone views the alien invasion as “an obvious displacement of the Soviet threat which turns on the metaphor of communism as pathology” or disease. This makes sense after watching this film and understanding, especially in 1956, why communism was scaring the Americans in their day to day life.

Apocalypse Now

It is a 1979 American epic war film set during the Vietnam War, directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, and Robert Duvall. The film follows the central character, U.S. Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard, of MACV-SOG, on a mission to kill the renegade and presumed insane U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel Walter E. Kurtz.

The film contains only one idea or message, the not-especially-enlightening observation that war is hell.

“Apocalypse Now” achieves greatness not by analyzing our “experience in Vietnam,” but by re-creating, in characters and images, something of that experience. the scene in which Robert Duvall, as a crazed lieutenant colonel, leads his troops in a helicopter assault on a village is one of the best movie battle scene ever filmed. It’s simultaneously numbing, depressing, and exhilarating: As the rockets jar from the helicopters and spring through the air, we’re elated like kids for a half-second, until the reality of the consequences sinks in.

Various commentators have debated whether Apocalypse Now is an anti-war or pro-war film. Some commentators’ evidence of the film’s anti-war message include the purposeless brutality of the war, the absence of military leadership, and the imagery of machinery destroying nature… Additionally, a Marine named Anthony Swofford recounted how his platoon watched Apocalypse Now before being sent to Iraq in 1990 in order to get excited for war.

one of the discussion questions was how does the film portray fear? The Vietnam war enough should present fear to anyone. This film shows how scary it is to be on a boat cruising down the river not knowing if you are going to be attacked from enemies hiding in the forest. Explosions going off all over, screams of people dying, killing innocent people and more.

The truth about the Vietnam war and the history of it is that it is probably the deadliest war known today. How many people who suffered the traumatic post war messing of the mind. How many young soldiers were taken and sent to the evil death of the forests and rivers. the Vietnam war was an American extravaganza, staged in Vietnam. To concede that it was a civil war is to relegate America to a supporting role in someone else’s drama. But that is exactly what it was: someone else’s drama. In spite of all the billions spent by the US, the Vietnam war was essentially a Vietnamese affair. The stakes were simply much higher for them.

We did talk in class before we watched this film and how some of the scenes were going to be very brutal and intense. I agree that the scenes in this film were horrible to watch due to the terror and horror in certain scenes, but I feel that the actual war was way worse than those scenes. I can not even imagine how some soldiers made it back home sane. The Vietnam war should have made every soldier never want to come home and go back to their normal lives. Still, this film was nothing but great, I really enjoyed it because I am fascinated with war movies, It gave me a better idea of what the real war was like in Vietnam. Also, the music choice for this film was perfect. 

Dr. Strangelove

It is a 1964 satirical black comedy film that satirizes the nuclear scare. Under the American studio Columbia Pictures, the film was directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, stars Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, and features Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, and Slim Pickens. Production took place in the United Kingdom. The film is loosely based on Peter George’s Cold War thriller novel Red Alert. Dr. Strangelove takes passing shots at numerous Cold War attitudes, such as the “missile gap”, but it primarily focuses its satire on the theory of mutual assured destruction in which each side is supposed to be deterred from a nuclear war by the prospect of a universal cataclysmic disaster regardless of who “won”.

The story concerns an unhinged United States Air Force general who orders a first strike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. It follows the President of the United States, his advisers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a Royal Air Force officer as they try to recall the bombers to prevent a nuclear apocalypse. It separately follows the crew of one B-52 bomber as they try to deliver their payload.

This film made me think of the reading we did about the Cold War era and how there was an example from Charles Walter Clarke who said after the atom bomb was dropped there would be a sexual chaos. That made me think of the scene with the secretary who just has been sleeping with everyone, especially the general when she is answering his phone calls in her bikini.

The most unlikely and absurd plot element in “Strangelove” is the existence of a Soviet “Doomsday Machine.” The device would trigger itself, automatically, if the Soviet Union were attacked with nuclear weapons. It was meant to be the ultimate deterrent, a threat to destroy the world in order to prevent an American nuclear strike. But the failure of the Soviets to tell the United States about the contraption defeats its purpose and, at the end of the film, inadvertently causes a nuclear Armageddon.

Looking at some of the discussion questions this film was apparently a joke about a lot of them. For example, how the film portrays the American characters and the foreign characters was pretty funny. Starting off with the names that were given to certain characters in the film provided a good laugh. War is examined as a joke in this film. especially for the Cold War era this was no joking matter. History showed that the Cold War was one of the deadliest wars and how important it was for our country. This film is also compared  to Soviet propaganda. Although “Strangelove” was clearly a farce, with the comedian Peter Sellers playing three roles, it was criticized for being implausible.

During the nineteen-fifties and sixties, the “always” in American war planning was given far greater precedence than the “never.” Through two terms in office, beginning in 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower struggled with this dilemma. He wanted to retain Presidential control of nuclear weapons while defending America and its allies from attack. But, in a crisis, those two goals might prove contradictory, raising all sorts of difficult questions. What if Soviet bombers were in route to the United States but the President somehow couldn’t be reached? Eisenhower agreed to let American officers use their nuclear weapons, in an emergency, if there were no time or no means to contact the President. Air Force pilots were allowed to fire their nuclear anti-aircraft rockets to shoot down Soviet bombers heading toward the United States.

Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan is a movie directed by Steven Spielberg released in 1998. A film which is both moving and quite violent. I do not recommend this movie for the sensitive people as it contains extreme gore scenes (especially the opening).The film is about a group of U.S. soldiers going behind enemy lines during World War II in France to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action. This is a very great film, intense but it so many good actors in it. It only focuses on the American troops and shows the heart and will they have while in war.

After doing the reading, I found it very interesting how the world war II veteran could relate to this film. I found it also interesting how after watching the film it made the veteran very angry because he did not want to see the US troops suffer. Which he had to deal with during the actual war. I’m sure there are many critics after this film was made talking about how scary and intense war is and why would you want to go into battle after seeing this film. the reading really made it seem like this movie was completely accurate to how it was. Spielberg did an outstanding job again with this movie.

In this film thousands of terrified and seasick men, most of them new to combat, are thrown into the face of withering German fire. The landing on Omaha Beach was not about saving Pvt. Ryan. It was about saving your skin. The movie’s opening scene is as graphic as any war film I’ve ever seen because in the bloody early stages the landing forces and the enemy never meet eye to eye, but are simply faceless masses of men who have been ordered to shoot at one another until one side is destroyed. Spielberg’s camera makes no sense of the action. That is the purpose of his style. For the individual soldier on the beach, the landing was a chaos of noise, mud, blood, vomit and death. The scene is filled with countless unrelated pieces of time, as when a soldier has his arm blown off. He staggers, confused, standing exposed to further fire, not sure what to do next, and then he bends over and picks up his arm, as if he will need it later.

Some of the discussion questions made me ponder about the film. Was this film portraying WWII as the good war? It was so intense and filled with deaths, bloodshed, explosions, etc. Why would we think that is a good war? yet any war be good…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le9uGkbtxHk (the sniper scene) very intense but felt it was necessary to show.

Longest Day

Directed by: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki
Produced by: Darryl F. Zanuck
Screenplay by: Cornelius Ryan, Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall, Jack Seddon
Based on The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan
Starring: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert
Edited by: Samuel E. Beetley
Production company: Darryl F. Zanuck Productions, Inc.
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Running time 178 minutes
Country United States
Language:English,German,French
Budget $7.75 million
Box office $50,100,000

The Longest Day is one of the most ambitious and massive films ever produced by Hollywood. The film sported five screenwriters and a whopping six directors. The result: one of the finest war films ever made about World War Two. It seems inevitable that history will remember Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan as the main film about the D-Day Normandy landings. However, while  focused on a very small group of soldiers, The Longest Day encompasses the entirety of the forces involved in that terrible battle. The filmmakers brought in military consultants, many of whom actually fought during D-Day, from both the Allied and Axis camps. It is estimated that 23,000 troops were brought in from the American, British, and French armed forces for shoting. Darryl F. Zanuck, the principle director, effectively commanded more “soldiers” than any general did during the invasion. In the film, we see the German command organize a desperate defense at the sight of the largest amphibious invading force in world history knock on Normandy’s door. We see paratroopers landing behind enemy lines to sabotage German defenses. We see French Resistance members joining the struggle. We see the death and carnage on the beaches.

Some of our discussion questions made me think about this fantastic old film. It definitely portrays the historical context of every side from the Americans, French allies, the Germans, etc. It does not just focus on the American side of the D-day Normandy landings. Gender was another thing I noticed in this film. The fact that mainly all soldiers during WWII were men and thats how it was done in the film. The violence and horror of this film was nothing compared to Saving Private Ryan. Yet it did show a lot of stuff that we do not see in S.P.R. The bunkers were what caught my attention because I had no idea what they actually looked like and how the Germans were sitting in there with their machine guns.

I really enjoyed this film, I am glad it showed all the different sides, it gave me a better understanding of how the so called “longest day” actually was. The camera angles used at the time this film was made was incredible. To show the hill side covered with soldiers, have the Nazi plane fly by and overall had amazing shots. I enjoy John Wayne as an actor, His role was perfect in this film.

One last thing that relates to our discussion questions for this section was that the German officers did seem kinda wrongheaded and not as smart as I thought they were. Overall this was a good film that showed many historical information that we do not see in WWII films.

The Grapes of Wrath

Directed by: John Ford
Produced by: Darryl F. Zanuck, Nunnally Johnson
Screenplay by: Nunnally Johnson
Based on The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Starring: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, and more.
Music by: Alfred Newman
Cinematography: Gregg Toland
Edited by: Robert L. Simpson
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release date: January 24, 1940
Running time: 129 minutes

This classic film tells the story of the Joads family, an Oklahoma family, who, after losing their farm during the Great Depression in the 1930s, become migrant workers and end up in California. This film showed the struggle of all families being forced off their own land where they grew up, they made a living and all of a sudden their house was being destroyed from the winds and the dust covering the fields. There were flyers going around showing work in California. It got the families excited that there was still a chance to make money, and be okay. Yet, arriving to the first camp the family realized how many other families had the same sign and were going to California as well. The Joad family had to stick together and Tom took the leadership role and kept saying they will find work. They go through many struggles with deaths in the family, grandma and grandpa both can not survive. On to the next camp, they continue to see a lot of families living in crammed places, all of the children are watching Ma as she cooks a stew and are begging for food. After an incident on this camp with a police officer or sheriff, the family decides to keep going and leave the camp. The last camp is like a sign of luck for the Joad family. They are welcomed and told there are dances going on(as below), bathrooms, not sleeping in tents, etc. The family thinks they have finally made it and have a job here. Unlike at the other camps they will be making more than five cents, or even 2 cents like some families made picking peaches. This camp gave the Joad Family hope.

Throughout the film we see a change in Religion with Casy the preacher. He gave up his duty because he has lost hope, when I watched the film it is almost like he is trying to teach a new religion as well, the way he speaks to everyone and has the certain insight that Tom Joad really likes. Tom is moved to work for change by what he has witnessed in the various camps. He tells his family that he plans to carry on Casy’s mission in the world by fighting for social reform. He leaves to seek a new world and to join the movement committed to social justice.

I thought this movie was great, I have seen it before in high school but I did not truly understand it. Watching it in this class made me pay attention to the true struggles that families had to deal with during the Great Depression era. It was a tragic that families lost their lands due to the mass amounts of dust from the winds. It is very powerful to see the roles in which family members take. For example, Ma keeps the family together, she takes on the role of which many would think it would be the Husband’s job. Ma’s husband loses all faith after losing his farm, he has a hard time keeping the family together. Even during the toughest times, families would do whatever it takes to live. Driving all the way to California in a beat up truck, that was fully packed. I could not even imagine how terrible that would be. Wonder if Ma ever found Tom again.

I have not read the book, I did hear that the second half of the film was completely different than Steinbacks version. I would like to read the book and compare it to the film. I really enjoyed watching this movie in class. Gave me a better understanding of the struggles during the Great Depression Era. My grandpa grew up on a farm in Iowa and went through the Great Depression, this film did a great job showing the true struggles of all families going through that terrible period of time.

Academy Awards wins in 1941

Best Supporting Actress: Jane Darwell as Ma Joad.
Academy Award for Directing: John Ford.

Django Unchained

“Django Unchained”

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Christopher Waltz, Leonardo Dicaprio, Samuel L. Jackson

Release date: December 25 2012

Running time: 165 minutes

Cinematography: Robert Richardson
Edited by: Fred Raskin
Production company: The Weinstein Company Columbia Pictures

Now this is a film directed by the great Quentin Tarantino. It is a mix of the spaghetti Western which takes place in the Old West and the Antebellum South. The story is set in early winter and goes into the spring, during the antebellum era of the Deep South with preliminary scenes taking place in Old West Texas. The film follows an African-American slave, Django (The D is silent) and an English-speaking, German bounty hunter posing as a traveling dentist, named Dr. Schultz.  By helping Schultz collect a large bounty on three outlaws that he has never seen but Django has seen them while being a slave. Schultz buys and promises to free Django after they catch the fugitives. Schultz teaches Django the ways of bounty hunting, and shares the rewards of the bounties with him. Schultz explains to Django how great of a duo they are working together and offers Django to work with him hunting down outlaws throughout the Spring. Django agrees to work with him only if Schultz will help find his lost wife, who Django has not seen since they were separated.

In this film we see an over-use of violence which caused many controversies with Tarantino. We see relatively graphic depictions of America’s 1800s slave trade. The use of the N-word was also a concern for many people. I did not think it was over used because I imagine that is how everyone talked on plantations. I do not believe that they were capable of using other cuss words like we see in the film. Just another way Tarantino catches the audience’s attention. Tarantino is known for using a lot of violence in his films. In Django, it gave me a better perspective of how the slaves were treated. Unlike the other films, we see a many ways of how slaves were beaten and tortured.

The music and costume design for this movie was great! The variety of music, going from old western, to the latest hip-hop. Why was it used? To keep the audience interested in the film. Now the costume design was also inspired by the spaghetti westerns and other works of art. I really liked how it showed Django being able to pick out his own outfit for the first time and well his outfit was very interesting to say the least.

Slavery was depicted very cruel and horrid. But, I did notice similarities in 12 years a slave, and Gone with the Wind with the film Django. In Django, Samuel L Jackson plays a loyal house slave in Candy land, very similar to the role Mammy played in Gone with the Wind. When I say similar I am talking about their loyalty to the family the are serving. Steven in Django is portrayed as an Uncle Tom figure. In all of these films we see many different ways of how slaves were treated. Not just whippings, but the chained masks, the dogs tearing apart the limbs, a hot box, and working in the fields. I believe that this film may not be historically accurate like the others. I was not sure if the Plantation owners would force their slaves to fight each other to death because the slaves were worth money, so why would one want to ruin a slave if he is going to sell them for money. Also, just like in 12 Years a Slave, and in Django we hear the plantation owners use the term “My Property” when referring to their slaves.

Django Unchained won many awards, including five Academy Awards. Which was well deserved. I did find some other interesting facts about this film. I read how Leonardo Dicaprio had a hard time with saying the N-word so much. Until Samuel L Jackson pulled him aside and told him “Mother F***** this is just another Tuesday for us!” haha found that pretty funny. Another fun fact was Tarantino connects other films he made to Django.

It was interesting how everyone was in shock that a black man was riding a horse in this film. At their arrival of each town is shows the crazy looks on all the Whites. Also Steven in Candy land has some rude remarks when he sees Django on the horse.

This was a great film, I really enjoy all of Tarantino’s movies. Being able to watch it in class was awesome!

Gone With the Wind

Release date: January 17, 1940
Rating: G
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Director: Sam Wood, George Cukor, Victor Fleming
Running time: 238 mins

Cast: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel, and more.

Here is a classic film, one of my mom’s all time favorite movies! It takes place in the “Old South” during the time of the civil war. Scarlett O’Hara lives at Tara, her family’s cotton plantation in Georgia, with her parents and two sisters. Scarlett learns that Ashley Wilkes (who she secretly loves) is to be married to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton, and the engagement is to be announced the next day at a barbecue at Ashley’s home. At this barbecue, Scarlett notices a man named Rhett Butler has been admiring her. Rhett who is the type of guy who does not take no for an answer, will not give up on miss Scarlett. Even though in this movie Scarlett will end up getting married three different times. Through out the movie we see a chane, especially when the war takes a turn against the confederacy from the battle of Gettysburg in which a lot of men were killed from the town where Scarlett is from. Several months go by, and the Union Army besieged the town. Scarlett makes a promise to Ashley that she will take care of Melanie while he is gone at war. Scarlett and her young house servant named Prissy had to help deliver the baby. Scarlett returns home to Tara to find that it is still standing, she also finds out that her mother passed away and her father is starting to lose it. Scarlett will do anything for her family to survive.

The writer was a Southern lady, Margaret Mitchell, so we see from her point of view how the south was. I find this interesting because growing up we never learn from the South’s perspective. The roles played in this film were amazing. How Scarlett is very powerful and plays almost a (Mans role) She takes charge, runs the house, shoots a soldier in the face, etc. I thought the director of this film did an outstanding job, I had no idea how many rules there were back in the day about making a film. This movie did receive a lot of criticism especially during the time it was filmed. Many felt they disrespected the depiction of black people and glorified the use of slavery in this film which caused many African-Americans to get upset about the film.

Gone With the Wind won many awards, 10 Academy awards to be exact. Which it deserved every one of them. I wanted to note how awesome the costume design and music was in this film for being the time this film was made. Imagine if they recreated this film now, I wonder if we would see the cruelty of slavery like we see in Django, or 12 Years a Slave.

This film was different then the others (12 Years a Slave, Django) from the aspect of slavery. We do see slavery portrayed in this film, but we see it in a different way. Mammy is the house servant who has been serving the family for so long she continues to stay even though she is free. She has been there since Scarlett was a little baby.She gave me a better perspective of how loyal house slaves are to their family. We do not see the cruelty of slavery like in the other two films but we do see the important roles that they play. Now is this movie historically accurate about the civil war? I thought this movie did just an okay job because much of the film is romanticized and is not a very accurate representation of the Southern plantation life. But at the time they made this film, I thought they did a good job. Yet there were some accurate parts in this film, for example, Scarlett, like many Southerners, returned to her home which was ravaged by war and she was forced to begin life again under the Union military. The film’s focus on Scarlett going in to business for herself represents an aspect of post-war Southern life. Lastly, Gone With the Wind is not the most accurate depiction of life in the Civil War, it does capture the horrors of war and the extent to which Southern life was changed following the defeat of the Confederacy. Overall, for my first time watching this classic film, I was impressed and would watch it again!