Scarlett O'Hara: Role Model

Fan art of GWTW that I found yesterday
that makes me laugh...

I checked out a blog I happened upon with a review of Gone With the Wind. The author is pretty cynical, which I love. You can find the original blog post here (but as a warning, there's quite a bit of language in it).

One thing the author said really got me thinking about Scarlett's character:

"...If she were nice EVERYONE ELSE IN THE BOOK WOULD DIE. I'm not saying I want to be her friend, but I am saying that if she were around in the days of Margaret Sanger we'd all be working for her worldwide empire."


I've never thought about Scarlett in exactly that way before. I've always thought of her mean-ness as a character flaw, not as a strength, but this blogger makes a really good point; if Scarlett were a nice person, would any of the major characters still be alive by the end of the book? Scarlett has the guts to shoot an intruding Yankee dead, marry her sister's beau for his money, force her family to work on the plantation, and plenty of other things that are, frankly, just not nice. Yet, those were the things that saved lives.

I've found it interesting as I've explored deviantART and Tumblr that some people say that they love Scarlett because she's the symbol of female empowerment. My first thought was...What? Who actually likes Scarlett? Understand her, sure; respect her, even; but look up to her as a role model? I just didn't get it.

But the more I look at people's understandings of the book and film through art and writing, the more I see how much people really do connect with Scarlett's character. She may not be nice, but people admire her strength and power. People want her kind of power. Maybe it's a deep American desire that gives people an immediate kinship with Scarlett's passionate, volatile character.