Scarlett O'Hara's Prerogative

I've discovered that the homemade Youtube music video is alive and well in 1800s Georgia.

I didn't expect much from GWTW music videos, but I actually really enjoyed them! Not to mention, I thought they were very interesting interpretations of the story and the characters (mainly Scarlett).

This video is set to the song "Apologize" by OneRepublic. At first, I found it ridiculous and nearly laughed my head off in the computer lab. I mean, come on--do you really think OneRepublic could beat the amazing original score? It seemed to trivialize the story to put it to a modern song.



But as I continued watching, I realized some things. First, the user who made the video set it to that song because he wanted to make the story, which he loved, more relevant to his own life and to the lives of others. I think the motivation for the remix is that he connected with the characters and felt that they related with his era and his music.

Second, he was trying to point out something he felt was important. The video focuses on Scarlett and Rhett's relationship and the mistakes Scarlett makes that pull her away from Rhett. It's interesting thinking of the song as an expression of Rhett's feelings in the end of the story, when he leaves Scarlett. It gave some of the moments Scarlett and Rhett shared a different feeling than they had in the movie. I found myself thinking that Vivien Leigh's facial expressions might mean something totally different than I had originally thought (for instance, at 0:28).

Well, if I thought Scarlett and Rhett's romance was trivialized by THAT song...guess what I watched next.

I liked this one somewhat less, but I did think that, again, it gave new meaning to the scenes between Scarlett and Rhett. It also made me wonder if Scarlett didn't secretly have the feelings described in the song "every time [they] touched."

This one was more similar to "Apologize," but I thought the lyrics were more thought-provoking when connected with the story.

By this time, I was getting more used to hearing modern songs in connection with GWTW, and I was actually touched by the way this video was done and I thought the lyrics fit amazingly well. And I wondered...which character would identify more with the lyrics, Scarlett or Rhett? Or maybe even Melanie or Ashley (although that wasn't implied in the video)?

Last, this one really made me laugh. (Be advised, I believe there is one swear word toward the beginning...)

This video offered a totally different insight into Scarlett's character and I kept thinking that Scarlett herself would probably say the lyrics of her own accord. Just thinking about Scarlett in relation to Britney Spears is an interesting connection, to say the least! Again, the video gave a different sort of insight into Scarlett's character--but also the Southern culture of that time.

All these videos combined make an important point: Many of the issues that were faced and dealt with in Gone With the Wind are still being faced and dealt with today. But which issues do people focus on? Every video that I watched was either focused on Scarlett's character or the relationship between Scarlett and Rhett, mainly the latter. None focused on Scarlett and Melanie's relationship, Scarlett's connection with Tara, the societal changes, war, etc. Yet again, social evidence that what lives on from this book is the ragged, scarred, and eventually broken relationship between Rhett and Scarlett. And we're all still holding our breath, waiting to find out if it was ever healed.