I must tell you that I’m not a movie buff. In fact I rarely watch movies on TV and it’s even more rare for me to go to the theater. So this weekend, I surprised myself by watching three movies!
Last night I went to the newly renovated Athens Theater to see Gone With The Wind. By the way, today is the seventieth anniversary of the first showing.
As I watched the movie, I paid close attention to Scarlett and how she got what she wanted. There was no question that her love for her homeland had no boundaries. She would do anything to keep the land and make it profitable no matter what.
Scarlett showed a ruthlessness and compassion. She showed compassion to her pregnant friend (Melanie) even though she was in love with Melanie’s husband. Scarlett was of the opinion that she was beautiful and irresistible. Her mind would not allow her to accept that a man she loved could love someone else. Now, I must give Scarlett credit here, she never told Melanie about her feelings! This brings to mind that Scarlett was very proficient in practicing deception.
Scarlett’s ruthlessness and deception were evident when she married her sister’s fiance under false pretenses. She needed the money to pay the taxes on her land and this was the most expeditious way she knew to get it.
I would venture to say that there is a bit of ruthlessness and compassion in each of us. Think about a time when you set your goals and made up your mind that you would achieve it “no matter what.” Now think about how good you felt, and the joy that you exuded when you achieved your goal. It didn’t occur to you that you were behaving ruthlessly, all you knew was that you were working to achieve your goals.
Now, think of a time when you showed compassion. This was a time when you gave freely of your time and energy to support someone else. You were there for your friend even when you could have been doing something else. So now you were ruthlessly compassionate!
Being ruthless and having compassion are desired qualities to help achieve the goals you set for your life. It’s up to you which one you choose to use the most often.
Which will you choose?
Thank you Inez for this blog; you always manage to bring positive insight to light.
I have to admit that my scorpio “latch-on-to-it-never-let-it-go” nature has ruthlessly had its way with my sub-conscious psyche in the past; now I get to practice what I teach, and be consciously ruthless in my approach to letting things go!
Ruthless compassion…I like it.
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There is good anger and bad anger. I guess there is good ruthlessness, and bad. I probably need to be a bit more ruthless in some things. Perhaps, my boomer years will mature it in the right direction.
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Controlling the bad anger and directing the good anger can produce positive results. Something I can still use work on!
This is a fascinating concept I’d never considered before. I guess in order to really go after and achieve something you desperately want, you employ a little bit of both. However, I hope I tend more towards the compassionate side of things.
It would be a trip, on the other hand, to believe like Scarlett, that you were utterly beautiful and irresistible. Who knows how ruthless you’d would be if you thought you could get whatever you wanted! Hmmmm!
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Inez,
While an interesting concept, ruthlessness, in my thought process, is not a desired trait. To be ambitious and passionate about achieving one’s goals is one thing, but to step over others in the process is getting down and dirty. Scarlett was ruthless, for sure.
I do admire many things about Scarlett’s character. Her love for Tara and her parents brought out the fire in her. She did show compassion on occasion, but she was still out for number one.
I like that movie, up until Bonnie Blue dies. So sad.
I agree with you that we have to persevere to achieve.
You said you saw 3 movies, what were the other two? Have you ever seen North and South? Love that series.
This is one of my favorite movies and it’s been a while since I’ve watched it…seeing it in the setting that you did must have been amazing. I never really liked Scarlett in the story, found her to be a lesson in how NOT to be…she had gifts, talents and abilities that she often, but not always, miss-used. It’s a story that makes you take a look at yourself, isn’t it? Great post!
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