Episode 7: Gone With the Wind Part one

Buckle up your seatbelts and get ready to rocket/rock it lovely Lit in Love fans. This episode starts our review of Gone With the Wind . An intense southern drama set in the time of the American civil war. A time when the South had weird traditions like taking naps at barbecues, never having any fun after you get married and marrying your cousins. Please enjoy this episode where we try to keep it light in spite of all the war. Next episode we will be continuing our review of this book. Stay tuned and as always thank you for listening. Follow us on Instagram @litinlovepod for fresh literary memes and podcast updates. If you feel like it rate us and subscribe to Lit in Love on Apple Podcasts.

Original publish date: 06/01/2019

Note from the podcasters: We don't feel great about many elements of these GWTW episodes. Racism is everpresent and insidious in everyday media, but it is especially blatant in this novel. A common excuse that people tend to use is that it was a different time, or that it was normal for southern plantation owners to dehumanize and violate the human rights of the people they held captive. It was a culture-shifting novel, as was the movie made based on it, but it was written well after a war fought for human rights that intentionally centered the slaveowner as a protagonist and gave sympathy to Confederate efforts with a palpable hatred for Yankees. Scarlett is a brat, but we are made to picture the glamorous gowns she wears, and we picture Vivien Leigh looking beautiful in a movie still. When Margaret Mitchell could have made a strong stance against slavery, she instead included racist and stereotyped depictions of black men and women who were enslaved by the O'Hara family, slurs used against black people, and mistreatment and injustice as small side notes or humorous anecdotes. It feels uncomfortable to confront the lack of condemnation of slavery in this novel, but we have to do it. We should look at every piece of media through a critical lens, especially when they involve human rights.

Relevant links with great articles to learn more:

https://collider.com/gone-with-the-wind-book-problems/

https://nypost.com/2015/06/24/gone-with-the-wind-should-go-the-way-of-the-confederate-flag/