The Civil War On Film – 18 in a series – Mitchell was writing from the only perspective she had been taught, the myth of the benevolent slave master

The Civil War On Film - 18 in a series - Mitchell was writing from the only perspective she had been taught, the myth of the benevolent slave master

The criticism GWTW engendered then and now center on the omission of any real depiction of the horrors of slavery. Outside of Scarlett slapping Prissy on the day the maid admits knowing nothing about childbirth (despite bragging about her expertise for weeks), none of the major characters ever mistreats a slave. Critics might fault Mitchell for not doing enough historical research before undertaking the story, but Mitchell was writing from the only perspective she had been taught, the myth of the benevolent slave master, not from the perspective of an enslaved main character. Still, this first error of omission is the most blatant error.

Movies profiled in this book:

Related posts:

  1. The Civil War On Film – 4 in a series – “…the entire slave economy stood as a shining moment of magnolias and gentility.”
  2. The Civil War On Film – 14 in a series – “Yet Mitchell created a heroine who never glorified the “Lost Cause” the way other characters in the movie did”
  3. The Civil War On Film – 10 in a series – …Thomas Ince’s films cemented the Plantation Myth.
  4. The Civil War On Film – 15 in a series – “…a Civilization gone with the wind.”
  5. The Civil War On Film – 5 in a series – “In our Civil War we didn’t fight outsiders…”

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