I have a sad confession: I really like the movie Gone with the Wind. I manage to put aside the cringe filled racial moments and the sweeping excess of the Southern whites. Even more, I have a soft spot for Scarlett O'Hara: the spoiled, childlike heroine. By the time Rhett tells Scarlett that he doesn't give a damn, he has more than enough reason. She has been in love with someone else for virtually their entire marriage, barred him from her bedroom because she no longer wants to sleep with him, and when in one night of drunken passion she does get pregnant tells him in a speech that includes the words "I wish [the father] were anyone but you." Scarlett leads me to a simple and anti-feminist conclusion: women are stupid. For years, without regard to the situation or any firm grasp of reality, Scarlett pines for Ashley Wilkes, a sad sap of a man who couldn't hold a candle to Rhett. Scarlett slowly comes to her senses about Rhett, but never says what she truly feels and even more pushes away every overture he makes to repair their relationship. Scarlett seems as dense as they come, the rest of us aren't always so far behind.
Who hasn't kept dating the guy who has given you indications that he isn't best for you? Who hasn't called the guy who didn't call when he said he would because you thought of a plausible enough reason as to why? Those would definitely be me. Who hasn't alienated the one man who truly loved you and doted on your daughter, spoiling her with trips to London and a pony? Well, that's only Scarlett.
But if I might channel Scarlett a bit, as God is my witness I vow to not be stupid anymore! At least until I fall hard for someone else.
After all, tomorrow is another day.
1 comment:
Give yourself some credit, Nikki. It's all circumstantial. Shall I continue going out with X even though I feel the need to flee? Eh, give it a few more weeks because a girl has needs. Know what I mean?
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