I just finished Frankly, My Dear: Gone with the Wind Revisited. Molly Haskell reexamines both the novel and the film and our cultures' obsession with the fabled tale of Scarlett and Rhett.
I decided to re-watch the movie as well and I have to say I did see it in a whole new light. In particular, I've garnered a new respect for Melanie Wilkes. I always found her annoying before, with Scarlett soaking up all the glitter and shine. However, now I find her one of the more interesting and empathetic characters in the movie. I love that she sees the best in everyone and is such an excellent judge of character, including those others misjudge like Rhett and Bell Watling.
More than that though, I love how quickly she can join forces with the less savory characters to achieve her goals. She lies in an instant to protect Scarlett after she shoots the Yankee deserter. She instinctively plays along with Rhett's drunken partying story after the raid on the shantytown. After a while, you realize how essential she is to every character's narrative and how it's not surprising that things fall apart upon her death. Melanie (and Mammy) is the only real adult in the entire story.
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It really is strange to watch/read GWTW as an adult. Like all good little Southern girls, I grew up reading and loving it; I was even named for one of Scarlett's sisters. Now, I certainly see layers to the source material that I didn't see before.
Melanie really does rise above the role provided for her by her own society. I think that Olivia de Havilland does a particularly good job of conveying the nuances of her character, especially in the scenes with the Yankee deserter. It's strange, if the book really was intended as a parable about the New South, as it is often interpreted, then there is a strong argument to be made that the Old Guard (i.e., Melanie) is stronger and more efficient than the scandalous New Wave (i.e., Scarlett, who serves as a proxy for MM herself).
Of course, I grew up idolizing Scarlett, but as an adult I've always found Belle to be the most interesting character (maybe it's the Lexington ties). And Ellen. Her backstory is one of the more interesting parts of the book, IMHO.
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