This film is overwhelmingly sexist

Wait -- WHAT?

I urge you to watch ANY of the documentaries about GWTW, and follow it up with the featurette made to accompany the new 75th anniversary release. They spell out very clearly (for anyone who could possibly miss it, which is boggling) the racism inherent in the source book and the film itself.

"Gone With the Wind" is presented totally from the old southern point of view, that slaves were basically just servants who were ever loyal to their masters and would do anything for them. Yes, Hattie McDaniel received an Oscar for her portrayal of Mammy but her character does not even have a name or a life. What do we know of her, other than she stood up to Scarlett as much as possible? "Uncle" Peter (Eddie Rochester Anderson) is a beloved house servant in Aunt Pitty's home yet he's like a favored pet. Butterfly McQueen as Prissy is childish and useless. The other servants, like Big Sam or Polk, who received Mr. O'Hara's watch and cried in the process, were the typical loyal to the death "darkies" that would do anything for their masters. Scarlett fusses over Big Sam and the other "boys," telling them if anyone gets sick to get in touch with her---treating them like pets. But she threatens to sell Prissy up the river if she's disobedient. The script plants the idea that Ashley's family would have liberated their slaves after Mr. Wilkes passed on. That's nice, after owning them most of their lives. Yes, it's a film based on a popular historical novel presenting the attitudes of the 1860s, but never once is there any spirit of rebellion or hostility among any of the African American characters. Except for Mammy, they are all like ignorant children, better off being in the "care" of their white folks. One of the most painful scenes to me, in terms of race, is when (during the spring 1861 barbeque afternoon at the beginning of the picture) tiny black girls are fanning the beds full of white girls who are napping. How can anyone say "GWTW" isn't racist? It's a wonderful picture, don't get me wrong. But I cringe at the non-stop negative racial attitudes. My God, even the title---"Gone With the Wind"--this beautiful life of grace and charm built upon the slaves' backs--is gone with the war. Did you know the Oscars in that period were a dinner type radio show? Hattie McDaniel was not allowed to come to the dinner (or the premiere of the picture in Atlanta) but showed up to receive the award and had to give a thankyou speech in which she was told to mention she was a "credit to my race."

I thought that was her father who slapped her, on the boat.

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In case you didn't notice, I was responding to the OP, not to you.

"Ok, I didn't say the movie was about gender. Of course it was about class, I absolutely see that, I study the history of film. I'm saying the behavior he exhibits toward her wouldn't be acceptable nowadays, nor should it be. I'm talking about in retrospect, looking at the film now from a modern point of view. I'm not talking about the original intentions of the creators. I'm talking about how the film looks now in the 21st century.

That's not being politically correct, it's being civilized. It's a great movie, but it's also old, and society has evolved somewhat."

Most certainly society has 'evolved', but I think you would be hard-pressed to prove society has 'improved' from the way it was portrayed in the movies of the 30s to the way it is portrayed today:

1. No slow-mo bullet riddled corpses.
2. No love affair with drugs.
3. No take it all off body-smacking in your face gratuitous sex.
4. No find a new way to cut it off with enhanced CGI slasher flicks.
5. No video industry where porno comprises the bulk of rentals.

I'll take a light rebuke to the butt any day over this....