History YMMV / GoneWithTheWind

** Despite the film's supposed pro-Southern Lost Cause revisionism, there is a scene where Rhett points out how foolish secession is. Also, when Ashley criticizes Scarlett for how she treats her workers, Scarlett {{Lampshade}}s the hypocrisy of his not raising any similar objections to his family's use of slave labour.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Much like ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''; what caused a lot of controversy in the day? The fact that Creator/ClarkGable said "Damn". At the time, this was ''unheard'' of. The set designs and acting can also be seen as quite cheesy and dated by today's standards.

* AwardSnub: A studio enforced one. Creator/OliviaDeHavilland (Melanie) and Creator/VivienLeigh (Scarlet) were both favorites to be nominated for [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Best Actress]], but the studio didn't want to have its two leading ladies compete against each other, so they campaigned instead for de Havilland to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress, which naturally didn't please her. However, Hattie [=McDaniel=] won Best Supporting Actress instead, which Olivia gladly agreed she deserved.

** Creator/GaryCooper turned down Rhett Butler because he thought the film would flop. Oops.

* WTHCastingAgency:
** No one expected a little known English actress would get the role every actress in Hollywood was dying to play. A critic even predicted that there would be [[SeriousBusiness rioting in the streets to protest the casting of Vivian Leigh]]. The Daughters of the Confederacy group ironically supported the casting when it was announced, though it was wedged in veiled "Better a Brit than a Yankee" response to the news.
** Margaret Mitchell reportedly wanted ''[[Creator/MarxBrothers Groucho Marx]]'' to play Rhett, probably because Rhett in the novel is more of a snarky smartass than the film's suave Rhett was. Of course, she was probably being sarcastic.
** Leslie Howard is likewise seen as a weak link when it comes to Ashley. Not just for being a full twenty years older than the character is supposed to be, his attempt at a southern accent doesn't even stay consistent. Given his famous disdain for the story and character, it seems as though he just gave up halfway through.

** Did Melanie know all along that Scarlett was pining for Ashley? There are many hints, such as her adamantly defending her sister-in-law and husband when they're accused of having an affair, but telling Scarlett they won't talk about it because there is no room in their life for idle gossip. Scarlett realizes that she can't disappoint Mellie and keeps the confession to herself. There's also her last words, telling Scarlett that Rhett loves his wife and to be kind to him. Perhaps she knew that Scarlett has Melanie as TheConscience, and was satisfied wtih that.

** Despite the film's supposed pro-Southern Lost Cause revisionism, there is a scene where Rhett points out how foolish secession is. Also, when Ashley criticizes Scarlett for how she treats her works, Scarlett {{Lampshade}}s the hypocrisy of his not raising any similar objections to his family's use of slave labour.

** Rhett may be far from being a sympathetic character, but it's really, really hard to not feel heartbroken for him when he loses his only child (Bonnie). It's very clear that he loves his daughter very much, and [[TearJerker he can't even bring himself to have her "buried in the dark"]]. Anyone who has lost a child can really feel for Rhett in that sense. Plus, prior to being an abusive jerk towards Scarlett, he gives her all the wealth and love that he can- only for her to cheat on him with Ashley. It certainly doesn't excuse his actions towards Scarlett, but it's understandable that he's very hurt by her actions.

** CovertPervert for Ashley. For all his high morals, not only can he barely hold himself from giving in to Scarlett's advances, but there's also the question of Melanie's second pregnancy. Since pretty much everybody knew that having another child would kill her and since Melanie would have been ''highly'' unlikely to cheat... the [[DeathBySex implications]] are pretty unfortunate indeed. Likewise after [[spoiler: Melanie's death]], Scarlett finally realises that Ashley ''did'' love her. She outright says that had Ashley told her he loved Melanie more, she would have probably been able to move on. Ashley never once tells Scarlett, despite having plenty of opportunities to. Was he just too timid to break Scarlett's heart, despite the good it would have done them in the long run? Or did he enjoy the idea of the unattainable Scarlett throwing herself at him?

** Despite the film's supposed pro-Southern Lost Cause revisionism, there is a scene where Rhett points out how foolish secession is.

* FairForItsDay: David O. Selznick recognized that Mitchell's flattering portrayal of slavery and race relations in the antebellum South were extremely questionable and deliberately tried toning them down for the film. He didn't entirely succeed, but there are some marked improvements over the source material:
** While the film is friendlier to the Confederate cause then most depictions are nowadays, it's also not a totally whitewashed portrayal. In one scene, Ashley and Rhett share their opinions on the war with other southern aristocrats. Ashley supports the Confederacy but laments that [[WarIsHell things aren't being peacefully negotiated]] while Rhett lays out in blunt terms that the South is ''screwed'' if they go up against the North. Both men are treated sympathetically while the other men frothing at the mouth for violent secession are viewed as [[UpperClassTwit privileged fools]] in over their heads.
*** In the same scene, even the pro-war characters openly admit that the cause of the war is slavery, fearing that the north won't let them keep their slaves and thus will ruin their entire economy. It makes no attempt to deflect to some other reason such as states' rights. The issue of course is that the movie tacitly portrays the image that black people weren't particularly suffering under slavery...
** Despite the painful caricature that is Prissy, Mammy is still a surprisingly decent representation of a black woman. She's shown to be more intelligent, competent, and compassionate than a lot of the white characters despite her status as a servant. What's more is that the film avoided using {{Blackface}} - which many others had done to feature black characters - and cast race-appropriate actors. Hattie [=McDaniel=] even won an Oscar for the role.
** The film also refused to give the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan the same treatment it had in the book. Rhett, Ashley and a few other sympathetic characters are in the Klan in the book - in the film, there are some vague hints that they might be, but their activities explicitly described as having anything to do with the Klan. It also omits the Klan pulling a BigDamnHeroes moment when Scarlett is attacked. Indeed, it has the black fieldhand Big Sam save Scarlett from bandits.
*** The book also has Big Sam save Scarlett from her assailants.

* ItWasHisSled: The book was written in 1936. The movie came out in 1939. You should know how this story ends just by PopCulturalOsmosis. Not to mention Rhett's famous "Frankly, my dear" line to Scarlett at the end.