70 and 140 Years Ago

Quote of the day:
“Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.”
--Anonymous

Tonight TCM ran “Gone With the Wind.” Merrie and I tuned it in as we continued to unpack our kitchen, which, other than a few lingering details (like inspection), is complete.

Due to the immense popularity of the film, it exists in near-perfect form, thanks to meticulous preservation and restoration. In some ways, it’s very hard to believe that “Gone With the Wind” was made in 1939.

(In other ways it is decidedly non-contemporary, such as the facile use of the term “simple-minded darkie” by Rhett Butler.)

All the production elements--sound, lighting, set design, costumes, camera movement and focus, acting, makeup and more--are exceptionally well-done.

There’s an interesting symmetry to watching “Gone With the Wind” in 2007. This movie was made 68 years ago, as the world was stepping into a devastating and planet-changing world war.

It depicts a period some 70 years before it was made--the Civil War and the end of the antebellum South. That war also altered the course of human history.

The Civil War was as contemporary in 1939 as World War Two is in 2007.

And the results of both these wars are imprinted on our 21st-century souls, whether or not we know it or think about it.