Author(s)

Colin K. Touhy

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.

This paper analyzes the films “Lincoln” and “Gone with the Wind”. “Lincoln” is a 2012 historical drama that focuses upon Abraham Lincoln and his mission to pass the thirteenth amendment and effectively end the Civil War. “Gone with the Wind” is a 1940 historical romance that involves the story of Scarlett O’Hara and her journey amidst the American Civil War. The Lost Cause mythology is a prominent narrative that attempts to downplay the centrality of slavery in the context of the underlying factors for the American Civil War and insert a positive outlook upon the antebellum South. This specific topic was chosen in order to shed light upon this comprehensive myth that has an extensive history and indeed has contemporary impacts and relevance. Examples of such include the support of various Confederate figures, a fundamental belief in the interconnectedness between the Confederacy and heritage, and persistent discussions regarding the variables that elicited the Civil War. This paper argues that “Lincoln” repudiates this mythology, while “Gone with the Wind” adheres to it. Through examination of formal elements including dialogue, cinematography, and commentary within the films, this deduction is reached. The essay is partitioned into four sections: “Intro”, “Lincoln”, “Gone with the Wind”, and “Conclusion”. The middle sections discuss the respective film demonstrated in the subtitle of that particular section.

Lost, Cause, Myth, “Lincoln”, “Gone with the Wind”, Formal, Elements, Civil, War, Adheres, Repudiates, Cinema, Film

Touhy, C. (2024) The “Lost Cause Myth” and Its Representation in Cinema. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 12, 76-84. doi: 10.4236/jss.2024.123007.