I've seen Gone With the Wind several times and love it just because it is so soapy...I love a good melodrama with dynamic & colorful characters and GWTW has oodles of them. I had a different reaction to Vivian Leigh's 'Scarlett'...I found her self importance and underhanded ruthlessness to be fascinating and I liked her character's determination. I don't know of any actress at the time who was more lovely to look at than Miss Leigh and I'm a big fan of hers. I should watch this again.
The only real "good guys" portrayed are secondary, background characters, and very few at that.
I could never tell if I wanted to root for Scarlett & Rhett... or root against them.
In many ways, they deserved each other as they were both egocentric scoundrels. But I see Rhett as the far more honest scoundrel - he made no bones about what kind of person he was - he even displayed a slight bit of honor when he went to join an army he had previously disparaged, when he admitted his fondness for an aging prostitute, showed his devotion to his daughter, and when he admitted he desired the respect of Mammy because he realized she was a pure & honest spirit and her respect could only be earned.
Scarlett was similar, but in her case she was full of deceit and manipulation, never really caring for anyone but herself. She used sex as a lure, even her obsession with Ashley was something I interpreted as an infatuation - she wanted Ashley mostly because he was denied to her - thus she saw him as a pursuit more than a true love.
Still, I could see this story appealing to feminists - despite what a low-character person Scarlett is, she was a take-charge woman and a force to be reckoned with (which Rhett admits several times) - and she was more than capable of getting anything she wanted
Was there ever an attempt at a sequel (either in book or movie form)? I wonder if she got together with Ashley now that he was a widower and she was free from Rhett... or if Rhett came back?