Extend Your Learning
Historical Interpretations
You will now view an excerpt from a feature film and analyze how the filmmakers portrayed historical events. For this activity, you will need access to a copy of Gone With the Wind (1939).
Watch the following scene: The Burning of Atlanta. [Note: If you are using a DVD, you can find this scene in Chapter 25. If you are using a VHS, the scene begins at approximately 1 hour and 23 minutes.]
Note the images that the filmmakers highlight in the foreground and those that appear in the background. Write down your observations. Then, review the viewing tool questions that you developed earlier. How might you revise them to help you analyze this scene for accuracy?
Dr. Greg Dorr, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reflects on Gone With the Wind:
"It's a morality play that's not simply good versus evil. It's an actual inversion of the good and the evil in a way that's convenient and palatable, and serves to make certain people feel better about their past. Gone With the Wind was itself a commodity -- it was sold to people. But it was history as a commodity, because what it sold to people was an image of themselves that they could accept. An image of their past that was usable to them to justify their present. An image that said, 'The South is still poor and beat down and downtrodden, but they can rise again,' [the film was released during the Depression Era] when Americans were saying, 'We are poor and beat down and downtrodden. Is there any hope out there for us?' The answer in both cases was 'yes,' provided they found the right scapegoat."
Present Your Historical Interpretation
Reflect on Dr. Dorr's statement. How did the filmmakers' goals and intended audience influence the accuracy of the film? Use specific examples from your viewing tool to support your argument. Present and discuss your argument with your colleagues or record it in your journal.