Movies Vs Books (part 2)

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(Part 1 is here)

There are a few movie/book sets that I like equal to each other. Gone with the Wind is the first of them. The book was amazing; yes, it takes about 200 pages to get into it, but Mitchell does an amazing job of making you root for an unlikable character, one who does morally questionable (sometimes disgusting) things but often for reasons you can (kind of) justify. Most of Scarlett’s actions can be classified as either the wrong thing for the right reason or the right thing for the wrong reason, but she has moments, though sometimes small, when you admire her or feel for her. The setting is arguably one of the most tumultuous in America’s, albeit short, history. The reader watches as good intentions drive on the road to racism and hell in a way that is both horrifying and fascinating. The movie brings the characters fear and desperation to vivid life. Both are masterpieces as far as I am concerned.

Pride and Prejudice staring Kiera Knightly and Sense and Sensibility starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet are also favorites of mine. In case you hadn’t noticed, I like Jane Austen, but a lot of her commentary is about a time that we no longer experience as our reality. Her ideas about people and relationships and even some of the struggles of women have not changed, but these movies let the audience experience the yearning of the story without letting the differences in time, customs, laws, speech, and life get in the way.