Gone With the Wind Musical — Page 4

Very Amusing. And VERY telling.

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"If one romanticizes the story and clings to it, for whatever reason...then one has to really think about whether or not one is passively condoning the attitudes inherent in it."

True. How could I possibly twist that into you implying that I condone it? *eyeroll*

WalkOn...it's "telling" of what, exactly? Or you also accusing me of passively condoning slavery?

EXACTLY, Shawk...thank you! That's all I'm saying.

I have to confess, in all sincere, humble honesty, that this entire conversation has me baffled. I've clarified/retracted my "historically-accurate" terminology, so what part of anything I said are people clinging to that makes it sound like I condone slavery?

Mother's

It is telling, I believe, of your mammoth ego to assume I was addressing you.

I actually wasn't. I was not addressing anyone in particular. I was responding to an idea someone (NOT YOU) had posted. If you read the thread carefully, you can figure out what idea and who posted it.

I have directly addressed you only ONCE before on this thread. I asked you a question that you refused to answer.

...

Shawk,

Possibly. I did for while. I LOVED GWTW growing up.

But I discovered that I had to actively ignore the truth of slavery to continue enjoying it.

With the civil war backdrop, the slaves portrayed as wanting the south to win and Scarlett's husband joining the KKK, it becomes harder and harder for me to ignore such issues. I had to make a choice: continue to convince myself that slavery wasn't THAT bad and keep enjoying this story.. or leave it alone and move on.

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Updated On: 2/23/07 at 04:45 PM

What I think is interesting is that most of the black people I know have no issue with GONE WITH THE WIND as a piece of fiction, while I often hear the moral dilemma arguement from friends who are white, under 40 and not even from the south(i.e. descendents of possible slave owners). Not a judgement of right or wrong - just an interesting observation.

So which one is it? Is the general public idiots or geniuses? Or maybe the truth lies somewhere in between, maybe, just maybe, some people will view this story with a critical historical eye and some won't.

Er, no kidding. Some people are smarter and/or more critical and aware than others and I don't see that changing. Does this mean that all literature and art that does not meet current PC standards should be altered for modern consumption? I think that's a bit condescending.

It's sort of like banning the "Little House" books for racism. I think it would be much more valuable to read the books with children and discuss the historical background and attitudes and how they have changed, rather than pretending that it never happened and oh God, protect the children, it's too dirty to touch because some people might not get it or want to get it.

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I actually think a musical of THE WIND DONE GONE would be more interesting and probably more viable than a musical of GWTW, which even if you didn't have a slave character in sight is a sprawling epic story that would probably cost about 30 million and six hours to stage well.

My eyes were rolling more than being rubbed, but the astonishment wasn't lost on me, either WalkOn.

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True. It is not fundamentally about slavery.. but the issue of having or not having slaves weighs into the plot a wee bit with the whole civil war thing.

I suppose you could reset it in France during one of their revolutionary wars. Call it LES MIS 2.

Wait... didn't the French already do that?

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Updated On: 2/23/07 at 05:20 PM

This is already doomed to fail. It sounds like the producers have no idea what they want. They want to tell the story from the slaves point of view, but cast Hugh Jackman?

I've always liked GWTW. I think that Mammy is one of the smartest characters in literature. She knows how to work inside the confines in which she's been placed. For example, in the book, Scarlett does something that Mammy disapproves of. Mammy knows it would be difficult to go straight to Mrs. O'Hara, so during family prayer, Mammy stands in the hallway and prays loudly telling God what Scarlett did, knowing Mrs. O'Hara will hear. Mammy is one smart lady.

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Well, of course, slavery was not the only issue involved in the war between the states, Walk On - so hypothetically, you could tell the story, keep it during the Civil War and not include slavery at all. And I agree with Goth - the black characters in GWTW are among the smartest and most rational in the entire book. They have a lot more dignity than a lot of the white characters.

WalkOn,
Please forgive me. I admit that I felt a little ganged-up-on from the start; after that, being accused of condoning something as horrific as slavery definitely got to me even more, and my temper was raised fairly quickly. I didn't want discuss something as potentially sensitive as political-correctness under those conditions. Without trying, I ended up discussing racism and slavery instead. Oh well, so much for trying to avoid sensitive subjects while already in a bad mood.

So, I'm going to attempt to answer your question, or at the very least, write the post that I should have written instead of the lame, hurried response I initially posted: I was originally responding to the notion of the musical telling the story from the slave's perspective. Like many other people here have already stated by now, I simply feel that's not what GWTW is about. It's about Rhett and Scarlett, and more specifically, it's written/told from her perspective. I for one am offended by Scarlett's treatment of her slaves, but that not only adds to her character by showing us her priorities and attitudes, but it also serves to reinforce my own personal distaste for slavery. As Michael Bennett just said, it illustrates the owners' lack of dignity, and only serves to elevate that of the slaves.

My point is simply that I'm not a fan of altering authors'/creators' intent. You, yourself said the idea of telling the story through the slaves' eyes was "painful"...and I'm agreeing with you.

ANYWAY, I have no idea if I've just dug myself a deeper hole and acquired an enemy, or not. But I do know I was angry and offended, and that definitely influenced my ealier posts.