A Woman, Tara's Theme
David O Selznick's Gone With the Wind was a big movie production when it first debuted in theaters in the late 1930s. The production took years to form before the actual filming and at an unprecedented budget to date, unheard of for its time. Gone with the Wind is a Hollywood classic, a big movie in cinema history. I listened to Tara's Theme from the movie and played it on the piano to get the inspiration for my poem on a woman. The proverbial saying goes for woman: "She is clothed in strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future."
Watching the movie again to refresh my memory, you clearly see the rites of passage that Scarlett undergoes through her younger years—during and after the war. A child before the war, Rhett calls her a "little girl," and wants to pet and spoil her. Scarlett has grown up in the Old South when things were palmy and breezy when no troubles brewed in the land. One of three daughters of the O'Hara family, Scarlett's father lets her know that he intends to leave his land to her, and that she is half-Irish and must see the importance of the land—"land is the only thing that lasts." Scarlett does not yet understand the significance of her father's saying until she endures hardship through unforseen events which inevitably occur—the Civil War and its aftermath that incurred harsh life for the folks in the South. Having gone through a lot of suffering in Georgia as a nurse, Scarlett has witnessed soldiers laid out in masses onto the ground, and she had been burdened and fatigued, yearning to return to her home. Scarlett is willful but has that "little girl" in her where she can use a man to lean on every once in a while especially in times of war. And that man is Rhett. She thinks it is Ashley. Scarlett mistakes her relationship with Ashley, a man who is not alike to Scarlett. Ashley does not have the passion for living that Scarlett has inside of her. He does not have her will nor her strength. Scarlett is willful alright —shooting a Yankee soldier who trespasses onto her property, doing business with Yankees after the war is through, hiring convicts for cheap labor, and marrying men she has no love for. Ashley never gives a helping hand to Scarlett, not much. He lends her a listening ear (here and there) but in times of trouble, she turns to Rhett. Rhett sees from the get-go that Scarlett and he are alike—they are both selfish and willful. The men Scarlett marries fall either into two categories: too young or old. Rhett suggests she gets with someone "over 16 and under 60" to show her a good time and with "a way with women." Rhett is a cad and has a bad reputation that society talks about behind his back. That 'you don't say' type of talk people whisper about. But Scarlett has become like that too. People talk about her outrageous moves in business and when Scarlett is seen with Ashley, other women have something to talk about. Scarlett marries Rhett after being widowed from her second husband's accident. They are rich but Scarlett is still immature. Rhett spoils her with expensive, extravagant gifts and Scarlett is happy—for a brief moment. She thinks of Ashley, from time to time, an illusion she could not yet grasp for what it actually is, not her reality, but an illusion out of her reach. Ashley does not clearly say to Scarlett that he does not love her, but he skids around the subject instead, and that he cannot hurt Melanie with his talks of honor. Ashley does not say it clearly enough for Scarlett to move on. Rhett and Scarlett's marriage is severed when their only daughter falls off a pony and subsequently dies from the accident. Magnifying the tragic discourse, Melanie's death soon ensues and Scarlett now seems to have what she has always wanted —Ashley. But Ashley cannot cope without Melanie. Now Scarlett finally finds out that he has really loved Melanie all through the years and she loved "something that was not real." Scarlett realizes she loves Rhett. She did not see it all those years. After all, it was Rhett that came through for her when she needed help. Rhett stole a horse carriage to help Scarlett when she had to leave Georgia during Civil War to her home in Tara. He left her to fend for herself, finishing the trip on her own but only upon knowing she can fend for herself. It was Rhett whom she turned to when she needed money to pay taxes on her land, Tara. It was Rhett who told her all those years, "someday I want to hear you say those words" she has once said to Ashley, "I love you." It was Rhett who wanted to marry her and married her. Ashley never proposed or talked of marriage to Scarlett. Scarlett never had a romantic relationship with Ashley. It was not real . . . but all in her head. Rhett leaves Scarlett. Setting off from their estate in a dashing demeanor and a cool statement, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Scarlett was immature to love and appreciate Rhett when he expressed his love for her all those years. Scarlett sinks down to her knees and cries during her life crisis of losing her husband. But just then, she hears her father's voice, "it's the only thing that lasts, land is the only thing that lasts;" Ashley's voice of "something you love more than me, Tara." Mr. O'Hara had made a smart decision to leave Tara to Scarlett because Scarlett had looked after the land after the war and labored arduously to preserve and harvest it. She took care of Tara like her own prized possession with more care for it than anything else or anyone else would have. She even married another man she had no love for, Kennedy, who not only harbored love interests for her sister for years but had the billing to exchange for saving her Tara, her land —to pay down taxes on her only land. Scarlett can be selfish and willful in getting what she wants.
Watching the movie again to refresh my memory, you clearly see the rites of passage that Scarlett undergoes through her younger years—during and after the war. A child before the war, Rhett calls her a "little girl," and wants to pet and spoil her. Scarlett has grown up in the Old South when things were palmy and breezy when no troubles brewed in the land. One of three daughters of the O'Hara family, Scarlett's father lets her know that he intends to leave his land to her, and that she is half-Irish and must see the importance of the land—"land is the only thing that lasts." Scarlett does not yet understand the significance of her father's saying until she endures hardship through unforseen events which inevitably occur—the Civil War and its aftermath that incurred harsh life for the folks in the South. Having gone through a lot of suffering in Georgia as a nurse, Scarlett has witnessed soldiers laid out in masses onto the ground, and she had been burdened and fatigued, yearning to return to her home. Scarlett is willful but has that "little girl" in her where she can use a man to lean on every once in a while especially in times of war. And that man is Rhett. She thinks it is Ashley. Scarlett mistakes her relationship with Ashley, a man who is not alike to Scarlett. Ashley does not have the passion for living that Scarlett has inside of her. He does not have her will nor her strength. Scarlett is willful alright —shooting a Yankee soldier who trespasses onto her property, doing business with Yankees after the war is through, hiring convicts for cheap labor, and marrying men she has no love for. Ashley never gives a helping hand to Scarlett, not much. He lends her a listening ear (here and there) but in times of trouble, she turns to Rhett. Rhett sees from the get-go that Scarlett and he are alike—they are both selfish and willful. The men Scarlett marries fall either into two categories: too young or old. Rhett suggests she gets with someone "over 16 and under 60" to show her a good time and with "a way with women." Rhett is a cad and has a bad reputation that society talks about behind his back. That 'you don't say' type of talk people whisper about. But Scarlett has become like that too. People talk about her outrageous moves in business and when Scarlett is seen with Ashley, other women have something to talk about. Scarlett marries Rhett after being widowed from her second husband's accident. They are rich but Scarlett is still immature. Rhett spoils her with expensive, extravagant gifts and Scarlett is happy—for a brief moment. She thinks of Ashley, from time to time, an illusion she could not yet grasp for what it actually is, not her reality, but an illusion out of her reach. Ashley does not clearly say to Scarlett that he does not love her, but he skids around the subject instead, and that he cannot hurt Melanie with his talks of honor. Ashley does not say it clearly enough for Scarlett to move on. Rhett and Scarlett's marriage is severed when their only daughter falls off a pony and subsequently dies from the accident. Magnifying the tragic discourse, Melanie's death soon ensues and Scarlett now seems to have what she has always wanted —Ashley. But Ashley cannot cope without Melanie. Now Scarlett finally finds out that he has really loved Melanie all through the years and she loved "something that was not real." Scarlett realizes she loves Rhett. She did not see it all those years. After all, it was Rhett that came through for her when she needed help. Rhett stole a horse carriage to help Scarlett when she had to leave Georgia during Civil War to her home in Tara. He left her to fend for herself, finishing the trip on her own but only upon knowing she can fend for herself. It was Rhett whom she turned to when she needed money to pay taxes on her land, Tara. It was Rhett who told her all those years, "someday I want to hear you say those words" she has once said to Ashley, "I love you." It was Rhett who wanted to marry her and married her. Ashley never proposed or talked of marriage to Scarlett. Scarlett never had a romantic relationship with Ashley. It was not real . . . but all in her head. Rhett leaves Scarlett. Setting off from their estate in a dashing demeanor and a cool statement, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Scarlett was immature to love and appreciate Rhett when he expressed his love for her all those years. Scarlett sinks down to her knees and cries during her life crisis of losing her husband. But just then, she hears her father's voice, "it's the only thing that lasts, land is the only thing that lasts;" Ashley's voice of "something you love more than me, Tara." Mr. O'Hara had made a smart decision to leave Tara to Scarlett because Scarlett had looked after the land after the war and labored arduously to preserve and harvest it. She took care of Tara like her own prized possession with more care for it than anything else or anyone else would have. She even married another man she had no love for, Kennedy, who not only harbored love interests for her sister for years but had the billing to exchange for saving her Tara, her land —to pay down taxes on her only land. Scarlett can be selfish and willful in getting what she wants.
The first actress that came to my mind was Marian Rivera, a Filipino actress for a modern day version of Scarlett in Gone With the Wind. She has that "little girl" in her who can use a man but still has the will to whip a horse until it foams with phlegm, collapses, and dies to get home soundly; therefore she endures and survives a long trip in fleeing the Yankees from Georgia and does it successfully. Ashley Judd and Lee Young Ae are women—and they are beautiful women. I see them more like Ellen O'Hara, Scarlett's mother, whom Scarlett wished to be like. But they are women.
Judd has been in movies like Kiss the Girls and Double Jeopardy. Some of her past male and female co-stars are as follows: Hugh Jackman (ladies stop drooling), Harry Connick Jr., Selma Hayek, Natalie Portman. Lee is a Korean American actress, more familiar to Asians audiences. Nothing girly is in her. Judd is a woman.
Here's a poem I wrote of a woman. After practicing Tara's Theme on piano several times, I noticed the note begins on a C note, then goes up one octave to a next C note. I tried to add this in the poem, by choosing words with higher pitch sounds at certain times. For example, "beams" is higher pitched followed by "pillar" on the first line. The first syllable in "beacon" in higher pitched followed by the first word in the next line, "fear." Other examples of higher-pitch sounding words include "Seasons," "Seethes," "Feat." I intentionally arranged them at the beginning of some of the line verse. So here it goes:
A Woman
She beams a pillar of might, a woman,
A beacon of pith, not only is she donned in modest garb,
But masked in dignity and without fear of what is ahead,
She's like a Romanesque marble columns which withstood,
Just as centuries of wanton wear to the course of a
perennial,
Perennial seasons, that is, so she is also a pillar of her society,
Seething over her estate and ahead of her state, a woman,
A woman is a pillar to her society,
And mainstay of the masses, man of the people.
By the feat of force to the folks and fealty of her state,
She assumes the mantle of load for the masses as select
gentry,
Standing against the spitball of politics before thorny
issues and seedy businessmen,
Just as she is the stanchion of shanties, bed of edifices, and
shores,
She shores up the cog in the wheel that reckons on her
call.
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