Gone With The Wind... The Morning After...

Whew! In keeping with their tradition of airing Oscar winning movies prior to the Academy Awards, TCM aired the entire original format of Gone With the Wind, exactly as it was originally shown. All I can say is.. WOW! Having been made in 1939, it is just hard to believe that in this day & age of high tech whatever... this movie is still up there at the top of the all-time greats. No bizarre graphics... no high tech crap... we are talking 1939 here. That year, considered to be at the peak of Hollywood's Golden Age, produced other movie classics as well; such as: The Wizard of Oz, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Intermezzo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dark Victory, Of Mice & Men, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Wuthering Heights and Another Thin Man (of which I am a HUGE fan of the last two). I could go on, of course, but I think you get the picture.

While watching Gone With the Wind last night (for the 1st time since I was 30), I realized how much this film was tackling the difficult issues of the times, which remain the difficult issues of today. The struggle between man & woman to live in harmony. The horrific struggle of war. Pride, stubbornness, vanity, selfishness, passion, deception, social acceptance, competition, social position, and the list goes on. Yup, there's nothing like struggling to be, is there? I'm assuming here that we've not made all that much progress in this department since 1939, since you can look anywhere on just about any blog & see the rantings of discontent amongst today's modern couples. Same old same old....

I cannot help but wonder why, when we've come so far in technology, we still can't teach humans to be happy. Everyone always wants more, more, more... of everything except taxes & hearing about Brittany's latest antics. But I'm wandering off here... AHEM! I find it incredible that, as a society, we still find it difficult to relate to the opposite sex (or even same sex, to be fair to those in alternative relationships). We now have more available to us than ever, and yet, I don't see that it is doing anything but alienating us or making us simply want more & more & more out of life. Where does the point of true happiness lie? Well, it certainly doesn't lie with how many material things we have. Granted, it's nice to be able to pay the bills, have fun toys to play with, a nice home to return to everyday, a nice car to drive & so on. What amazes me is how quickly & easily people give up true love for all the material crap & then spend the next 10-20 years trying to figure out why they can't find love. Well... DUH! In my humble opinion, pride & greed are the two biggest factors in the breakdown of any marriage, with a sprinkling of selfishness, vanity & stubbornness thrown in for good measure. Trust me, the almighty buck isn't much fun in bed & won't keep you warm on cold nights or massage your neck when it aches.

Margaret Mitchell tried to convey these sentiments in the novel Gone With the Wind, by revealing the frailties, strengths & flaws of each of her characters. Oh Well... you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink....

After GWTW, Turner Classics showed Wuthering Heights, another one of my all-time favorites. Again, greed, pride, selfishness... yada, yada, yada. When will we ever learn?

So, in closing, I suppose I'd just like to say that the reasons I always loved these movies is not only because of the world class acting from amazing actors, but also because of the story & the lessons the authors strive to drive home to us. I learned my lessons well... did you? It's like I always say, "I'm a tree. I can bend." That's what it takes for a great relationship, but it has to be a two way street. Otherwise I think it would be considered spousal/relationship abuse or something, lol. Oh and by the way, my dear hubby has never even seen Wuthering Heights and has only seen GWTW once. He must have been born with insight... or NOT! Who cares? Anyone who has stuck with me for 30 years should be seriously considered for Sainthood.