The novel is a soap opera which serves as an excuse for incorrectly portraying Southerners as innocent victims of Northern atrocities. The film is a wholesale adaptation backed by the arrogance of a tyrannical producer (David O. Selznick) who represented the patronizing attitude Hollywood often had towards its core audience. Both must be seen as products of their time and nothing else.
The novel is a soap opera which serves as an excuse for incorrectly portraying Southerners as innocent victims of Northern atrocities. The film is a wholesale adaptation backed by the arrogance of a tyrannical producer (David O. Selznick) who represented the patronizing attitude Hollywood often had towards its core audience. Both must be seen as products of their time and nothing else.