Frankly My Dear I dont give a damn

I guess that is what Mr Rhett Butler would have said when queried about why the movie " Gone with the Wind", was not selected by Time Magazine as a part of its list of the 100 greatest movies of all time so far.

And hes right. Why should he or for that matter even Margaret Mitchell give a damn about the same? The reason why i ask this is because of many articles appearing in the newsprint about how surprising or shocking it was to note that the movie does not appear in the list.

Let me look at it from two veiwpoints, first the hypothetical vewipoint of the author herself, and then from that of the selectors from time magazine.

For Maragaret Mitchell, she created a masterpiece, a great novel, that enthralled and continues to enthrall readers worldwide. she wrote a book that was named as the most widely read book after the bible. All this is very very true, but at the end of the day, other than of course the actual feeling of a contentment at having created something fabulous ( in this case a great story), would possibly greatly override all the accolades showered by the rest of the world. for is it not true, that if one is not happy with ones own work, would all the accolades really matter?


As Ayn Rand would have probably stated, the work itself would be the greatest accolade possibly to the worker. So i really dont think maragaret mitchell or for that matter Rhett Butler would give a damn.


Now lets come to the selectors. Of course Gone with the wind is a fabulous novel, a romantic masterpiece. the story is beautifully written and the plot is great. But at the end of the day, its precisely this- a beautiful though sad love story. Thats it. And the movie also is just that. If you look at it from the critical angle, i dont suppose one could really find any piece of cretivity worth voting it as one of the great pictures of the century. Or anything that would have a profound impact on someone.

I suppose the selectors were probably looking for movies, that were masterpieces in terms of creativity or imagination or the effects ( for the techno age of today), or human emotions, or situations or history. In terms of that Movies like Schindlers List or our very own Satyajit Ray's Trilogy including Pather Panchali would have figured. Not a plain old flick like our GWTW, which is what it is at the end of day, made out of a great book, even though it has enamoured audiences the world over, though definitely less than the book itself.


But then reiterating what Butler said " Frankly, i dont care a damn". Neither should anyone else. The books great. thats what matters.