I jumped on my chair when reading the newsmagazine days ago I understood that Gone with the Wind
"What???" I thought discomforted.
What happened after the murder of Floyd has been an escalation of historic revisionism.
Black Lives Matter meant a lot of pressure in the public opinion so that in various cities statues of past leaders were devastated, removed. An operation for cleaning consciences, and possibily, for forgetting the sad past.
Pity that...What has been has been and can't be changed.
It's printed in books of history and books of history can't be rewritten.
Symbols can be put aside, but the centrality of the racial problem remains: a statue, a symbol can't replace hundreds of years of humiliation and separated existences.
The USA has a history of profound, incredibly radicated racism and should start from that point for bettering the situation, not removing or destroying statues of Columbus or other leaders of the past, simply because it doesn't change the situation.
Searching dialogue and not distances, living closely to black people and not in separated places; making movies mixing white and black actors, and not just promoting black or white movies; for what I understood, trying to better the police corp! keeping humans and not cruels police men, because it's not important if you are white or black, when you are stopped somewhere in the USA also as a tourist by police men for what told me a friend, that one will be the the scariest experiences that you can prove; it musn't exist, because a control doesn't imply anything else than an innocent control. And trust me, you can be absolutely white! My friend was white.
Police men should be educated for giving assistence, of course for punishing, but passing through a correct and educated behavior with everyone. It's not possible to kill people in this way for a control.
Said that, Gone with the Wind.
The first time I watched that movie I was with my aunt Dina. Aunt Dina was fascinated by the character of Mammy. She worked as a maid when she lived in Rome, in the center of the city and she remembered the experience with enthusiasm, so maybe she saw in Mammy some treats she had.
Mammy is absolutely a devoted lady, and she constantly tell to Scarlet her opinions regarding her behaviors in the society. She doesn't live in an intimidating place where she can't speak, she can't express her personality; she has a strong personality and she affirms what she wants. When black people became free she considered the story without importance; after all she hadn't never been a slave and no one treated her in that way. So, under many ways as we can see again, it's the way in which people are treated, or how people treat others that can make the difference in their existence. Mammy was happy in Tara, with Scarlett and the O'Haras and she didn't want to change anything of her existence.
The same Rhett will fight for conquer the respect of a skeptical Mammy, when eventually married Scarlett. Mammy did not have a great idea of Rhett, but later, Rhett will conquer her and only in that moment he will be completely happy.
There is not just Mammy, other Tara's workers, after the Secession War will be helpful, will save the life of Scarlett and will return to work for her. They were treated very well, and they were an integrant part of the family.
Who was seen as real evil were Nordists in the movie. In that sense the movie is strong, reporting violences of nordists, various prepotences because after that they won the war, they felt the sensation that they were the new lords of the South. The same Mitchell returned home before ending the school at the Smith College in Massachusetts because she didn't like the Yankees. She had a curious personality. She also guessed that she would have lost the existence with a car incident. Prophetic.
You can tell me that Scarlett was hard with Prissy, but Prissy was an irritating, false, superficial creature; she told to Scarlett that she was in grade to help her when the baby of Melania would have arrived in the world and it was not true. The violent reaction of Scarlett was absolutely normal and to my point of view, she would have slapped a black or a white in that way, because she wanted to return to Tara, she wanted to forget the horrible scenarios she saw in a daily base in Atlanta, she wanted to forget the horror brought by a war, she didn't want to be in Atlanta but she had to because...Because of Melania.
Rossella felt for Melania conflictual feeelings; she was her sister-in-law because Scarlett married Charles, Melania's brother but...Melania was also the wife of Ashley Wilkes. Scarlett simply adored him.
But...It's the not end of the story. The movie as the book are not racists, but the premieres of the movie has experienced limitations for the black actors. Mammy Harrie McDaniel for example could not attend all the Atlanta's celebrations when the movie released because of the segregational laws; Hattie received the Best Supporting Actress Oscar on Febr 29, 1940, the first black winner.
Not only: when they started to filming someone noticed separated toilets for black people. James Tumblin a photographer decided to speak of this topic with Clark Gable. Glable, infuriated said to Selznick. "If those toilets are still here tomorrow, I won't be!" Gable would have given up with filming if black people not treated as white people were treated. Toilets were immediately removed.
Selznick confronted his opinions with some African American Journalists. They wanted a human script, remarkably good. Selznick was seeing what it was going on to Jews around the world; racial thematic to him was important and as he said: "I feel so keenly about what is happening to the Jews of the world that I cannot help but symphatize with the Negroes."
In a scene at the beginning of the movie, the moment of prayer, all the people of Tara, from children to adults, from workers to members of the O'Hara family prayed together without distances, without segregation and without differences.
If there has been a movie in grade to make a difference in the racial situation of the USA, to me this one has been Gone with the Wind, so I just hope that this polemic would be over soon, because absolutely ridiculous.
Anna Maria Polidori
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