"The cause of living in the past is dying right in front of us."
Those are the words of Rhett Butler in the movie "Gone With the Wind." He says it as he and Scarlett are fleeing a burning Atlanta. It's a sad scene, and when I recently rewatched the movie, that line really struck me. Rhett was referencing the proud Southern ideals he'd heard men toss about at the party at the Wilkes plantation near the beginning of the movie. The Southerners relished jumping into a war with the North to protect all that they believed in. Rhett saw their sentiments as very foolish, and as he and Scarlett tried to flee the hot effects of war, he could see the destruction of those ideals spread all about him. It's an interesting moment, and it resonates today, though I would argue there are plenty of traditions that we, indeed, need to hang onto.
Speaking of Scarlett O'Hara, it also struck me, in my most recent watching of the movie a couple months ago, that I could add her to my list of narcissists in pop culture, which, really, you saw as a blog post on narcissists in television in January 2024. Scarlett was quite wrapped up in herself, wasn't she? Only concerned about what she wanted -- which was Ashley Wilkes. Spending the whole movie trying to get him, to satisfy her own desires, then realizing, at last, that she never really wanted him. And with the poor Melanie Wilkes serving as her foil, determined to believe nothing ill of Scarlett. Only seeing the good in her, as scarce as it was.
And the final thought on my mind today that I wanted to share is, wow -- this blog is actually 20 years old! (Maybe it seems like it's even older, I don't know.) When I started it in January 2006, I wanted to share news bits about the classic TV shows I covered in the BRBTV book series. It branched out from there, though. I broadened the focus to any classic TV shows, not just the ones I've done books about, and then broadened it even further to pop culture in general -- with some ministry projects thrown in.
Back at the beginning in 2006, I had a lofty goal of publishing a post every day or nearly every day. That continued on for a while, but it was a lot of work! A lot of time spent. I loosened the schedule some, then at one point I even went on a sort of hiatus. But I couldn't quit my beloved blog -- that hiatus didn't last long. Now I would like to think it's one of the few blogs in our Internet-osphere that has actually been continually fed / published for two decades. I see a lot of blogs come and go -- a lot of blogs that start out in earnest, then a few posts later, the author disappears into the unknown corners of the web. Not me -- I'll just blather on and on, like I'm doing right now!
So what I've got to say to that is, THANKS FOR READING!!! ;)
