no scarlett
November 10, 2010
I just finished reading (listening to) Gone With The Wind.
41 cds. And I know this makes me sound crazy, but I absolutely loved it. Scarlett is about as unlovable a protagonist as you can have in a big sweeping historical epic, and the South is not exactly what I’d call sympathetic.
And yet. I loved it. I sat in parking lots and garages listening to one more cd. I felt wistful when it was over. I miss Scarlett and Rhett and the gang.
I read (listened to) Anna Karenina last Spring. I didn’t love it. I like to think of Gone With the Wind as America’s Anna Karenina. But better.
So, having now read Gone With The Wind, naturally the next step is to go rent the film and watch it (I watched it long, long ago, but all I can remember is the “curtain dress” and “tomorrow is another day”). After all, it cleaned up at the Oscars back in 1940. It ranked number 4 on the AFI Greatest American Movies list.
So, I go to Blockbuster, alleged movie purveyor, on the way home from work.
Nope. No Gone With The Wind, Pulitzer Prize winning novel, winner of eight Oscars. And no, not just rented. Not carried.
But at least I’ve got my pick of FIVE copies of GOAL II: Living The Dream. So I’ve got that going for me. Which is nice.
November 10, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Hope you find it. It’s one of my favorite movies. Makes me want to netflix it and watch it during my recovery. Good luck
November 10, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Oh, and fiddle-dee-dee.
November 10, 2010 at 3:54 pm
You still shop at Blockbuster?
http://www.theonion.com/video/historic-blockbuster-store-offers-glimpse-of-how-m,14233/
November 10, 2010 at 4:01 pm
don’t you judge me. i have many and good reasons for not doing netflix or on demand. someday i will post about these reasons. here’s a hint: i am amish.
very funny video by the way. it actually completely captures my visit to the sad, sad blockbuster location, where i was the only patron, and the clerk clearly fell a ways over on the autism line.
November 10, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Now THAT is a funny video.
November 10, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Good rule of thumb! If it did well with the Oscar crowd I probably wouldn’t like it.
Now, that Goal II looks promising though;-)
I hope you find it too since you insist on watching those. And it really should be available for the viewing public. Somewhere.
November 10, 2010 at 4:41 pm
steve, you say “those” as if you’ve never heard of Gone With The Wind. don’t play dumb with me mister.
tell me how Goal II: This Time It’s Personal works out for you.
November 10, 2010 at 4:27 pm
The Goal Duology is a surprisingly awesome guilty pleasure. I saw Goal II on an airplane and had to rent Goal I asap.
So when I first saw the photo above, I thought, “Oh – a kindred spirit who has seen and loved Goal?”
It made me sad that it was just a punchline.
Simon
p.s. Despite your lack of love for Goal, I dig your blog.
November 10, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Yeah. I’ve seen a bunch of you Amish rabble-rousers using your WordPress blogs to espouse the evils of online filth like netflix. “Get thee hence ye foul bits and bytes!”
November 10, 2010 at 4:42 pm
help me out here eber. i’m no linguist, and i have no idea what you just said.
November 10, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Reading Anna Karenina is like eating sawdust. He sucks you in with War And Peace then he springs that on you. I’m pretty sure the audio version would put me to sleep at the wheel of my troika.
Good point about the parallel heroines.
November 10, 2010 at 4:44 pm
41 CDs ?!?! This endurance sport trend is going too far. And I’m struggling with the 12 CDs of “Tale of Two Cities”.
Cheer up, Big Mamma 3 is coming.
November 10, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Caddy Shack reference. Which is nice.
November 11, 2010 at 10:17 am
I must disclose that I didn’t do anything technical to embed the above video. I just included the YouTube link and it automagically appeared. Yea WordPress.
November 10, 2010 at 8:48 pm
I have it on vhs. If you still own a vcr you’re welcome to borrow it.
November 10, 2010 at 11:19 pm
Matt Whiting once proclaimed Gone With the Wind one of the favorite novels. “Scarlett O’Hara was not pretty…” So I went out and bought a copy. Couldn’t get past the first five pages. But I’ll try again on audiobook. Sounds perfect. Or, as my writing friend from India would say, “It brings to effect my degree of pleasure in a future time.”
November 11, 2010 at 10:37 am
bob, lemme just say, it’s probably not for everyone (although it is listed as one of the best/most-loved movies and books of all time).
kim, for example, is struggling to finish it. scarlett is just not likable enough. sure, she’s got spunk, spirit, sauce. but she’s a whiny double crossing bitch too.
but i bought it. all of it. not sure why.
November 11, 2010 at 7:31 am
Insert joke about being completely lost in Goal II for not having seen the first Goal film.
November 11, 2010 at 10:02 am
I’m glad I’m not the only one who see’s the magic of a Caddyshack reference in a piece about Gone with the Wind. Really speaks to the universal nature of the film. There’s almost no situation to which a good line from Caddyshack doesn’t apply. The bike path here in Boise winds right through a public golf course. I still haven’t found the nuts to yell “Noonan!” as I pass the tee box during my rides. Today is the day.
PS- another highly applicable film for most situations…. Nacho Libre.
November 11, 2010 at 10:18 am
I heartily agree, and would add Princess Bride.
November 11, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Try your local library for dvd copy of GWTW…
November 11, 2010 at 1:06 pm
yup, good call. did that, BEFORE i went to blockbuster (the blockbuster is a block from the library).
out with like 10 holds on it.
November 14, 2010 at 9:45 pm
My 74-year-old mom has a copy of GWTW on DVD you could probably borrow.
Yeah…that’s right…you and my 74-year-old mom = kindred spirits.
November 14, 2010 at 11:00 pm
I couldn’t be prouder. Ask her whet else she likes.
November 15, 2010 at 2:51 pm
I’ll think about that tomorrow.
November 17, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Your local library has it checked out with ten holds?
Does not speak very well for the local Blockbuster about giving the public what they want. Probably explains why the stores that they have left are empty.
Many of the lines in “Cool Hand Luke” can explain life.