"Throwing the baby out with the bathwater." There is a fragment of an old admonishment that comes to mind when I think about GONE WITH THE WIND, the movie and the book, and the recent slaps at J. K. Rowling for her views on gender identity.
Second, I want to put the idea out that there is more than "Either Or" and I refuse in the honor of my own mind, to be forced into a black and white, this or that resolution to a problem. I believe in Either Or And This AND That. Those are my conditions, my parameters, for my take on the current judging and shaming of people whose art, whether visual or literary, or musical, has elements in it that are politically incorrect.
Take GONE WITH THE WIND. This is a work of literature and of history. It is true that it is one person's personal vision, not a historical text, therefore it has all the flawed and wildly imaginative and brilliant pieces of its original creator. Margaret Mitchel created a world and characters out of the stories of those around her PLUS her own imagination and creativity. And if the African American characters were stereotyped in some regards, they were also honored and brought to life with the genius of the writer, and later the talented African American actors who portrayed them in the film.
Another parameter: I see things through a gender bias and conditioning sense. So, I not only see the stereotypes of African Americans of the period being used as a backdrop for the book, but also the ones for women. There is the whore with the heart of gold, the spoiled seductress who needs to be 'tamed' and the silly and frivolous incompetent Aunt PittyPat or whatever her name was. At any rate, aside from that what I also see is a patriarchal context where great achievement by women is denigrated and denounced. Gone With the Wind, by a female American author, was wildly popular, successful, and admired devotedly by two or more generations of readers and movie fans. It probably contributed a spark to the my passion for history. It awakened my imagination like the great illustrations of the Children's Classics of my childhood, the swashbuckling pirates, the desert Islands.
The actors: I think the critics and columnists who have jumped on the bandwagon to vilify GONE WITH THE WIND, have missed some of the nuances of art. One in particular is the denial of the depth brought to the portrayal of the characters by the brilliant actors in the immensely beloved film version. Vivienne Leigh gives us a complex personality struggling within the bars of her gender confinement much as the Afro/Am characters are shown trying to survive in their race confinement. The courage and loyalty of Big Sam was not insulting. These artists/actors allow you to see the conditioning of the characters in all the subtlety of their interactions, what they are forced to do to stay alive and perhaps, even thrive, on some level.
What female actor has not had to demean herself in a character? What woman under any circumstances has not had to "Step and Fetch" and what woman, in real life has not been an Uncle Tom? We do it so reflexively that we hardly notice it.
Instead of reviling and blaming GONE WITH THE WIND, let's read it and study it and find all the thoughts it has to stir in our minds as well as in the mind of a brilliant, authentic and unique artist, Margaret Mitchell. It was, after all FICTION. If we took on all the books that stereotype women, what would we have left?
And now, taking another controversy to hand, why can't J. K. Rowling express her opinion on gender issues! I have my qualms about gender claims too, though I deny NO ONE their civil rights or social rights. Where I see nuance and a need to step aside from /either- or' traps is in athletic competition. Women and men are different anatomically. Although there is great variation within each sex and certainly some women are stronger than some men, in general our biology suits us to different strengths. For instance women are better at endurance challenges, as in swimming the English Channel or the strait between Cuba and Florida. Men are probably better at log tossing, football, and, I don't know, all of that remains to be discovered over time. And women gestate and give birth which men cannot do. If we held a competition in childbirth, women would win every time.
So is it fair for a male to compete against females after he has undergone cosmetic surgery and hormone treatments to appear more female? Is a transgender woman the same as a biological woman? Should it matter? J. K. Rowling made an interesting point to consider. I have thought about this myself when I was confused about the impersonation of women by costume and make-up. That doesn't make someone a woman anymore than black face makes a white person African. That is not to say that anyone who wants to impersonate a man or a woman shouldn't have fun with it, but it is to say that dressing a man in a bear suit doesn't make him a bear.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
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