# The film Gone with the Wind as the first time a person could feel like being in another reality? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281 "2015-08-19T19:43:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NPham2005](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@NPham2005](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NPham2005)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/1 "2015-08-19T19:43:14Z")
Do you believe that the film Gone with the Wind marked the first time a person could feel like he/she is in another reality? I mean, you could say that life is like a movie or a tv program. Motion picture film, videotape, and digital video are all able to record moving images in color, just like our eyes. But apparently, the first successful color movie was Gone with the Wind (sometimes Wizard of Oz is given that title. Earlier color movies were either not reproducing the color blue or they looked like a Ted Turner colorized black and white movie, especially the earlier technicolor movies. See Service with a Smile! as an example of early three-strip technicolor. Looks colorized, ugh.). Color videotape and digital video weren’t around yet at the time. Color videotape wouldn’t come along until 1958 with a broadcast of Dwight Eisenhower. Digital video as a method of production for mainstream movies or tv shows wouldn’t come along until 2002 with the release of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. So anyway, back to the original question: do you believe that the film Gone with the Wind marked the first time a person could feel like he/she is in another reality? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/2 "2015-08-19T20:28:29Z")
Since it never occurred to me, I’d have to say… no. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/3 "2015-08-19T20:39:53Z")
Hallucinogenics long predated the invention of cinema, so I’m going to say “no,” too. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/4 "2015-08-19T20:47:06Z")
Nonsense. 3-strip Technicolor was introduced 4 years earlier with **Becky Sharp** and other subsequent features like **The Adventures of Robin Hood** quite famously did wonders to create authentic, vibrant color reproduction on film. More than that, moving pictures had been around for over 40 years already, and people’s imaginations and ability to be completely captivated by the immersive imagery were not limited to whether the films portrayed color or sound or life accurately. There were believable or convincing “realities” since film was introduced. It’s not like anybody actually _thought_ they were transported back to 1860 Georgia, after all. It was just a movie–a very expensive and popular movie, but not one that changed people’s perceptions of make believe. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/5 "2015-08-19T20:47:25Z")
Engrossing novels had been around for a couple of centuries before any cinema, so I also vote “no.” ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/6 "2015-08-19T20:50:10Z")
Though I agree that the answer is ‘no,’ it’s true that the 1939 movie was _particularly_ immersive, given its fidelity to period detail (at least by the standards of the day) and its sheer length (nearly four hours). There had been “period pictures” before _Gone with the Wind_, but by many accounts this one really hit people hard, emotionally. It was a huge success and the immersive nature of the movie experience probably was part of that. It’s quite possible that for many 1939 viewers, this was something new in their lives. “Like being in another reality” could well have been one way of looking at it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/7 "2015-08-19T21:14:11Z")
Someone had TCM on last night, I see! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/8 "2015-08-19T21:25:59Z")
I’m quite sure the first people who saw the flickering images in a zoetrope felt like they were in another reality. As well as the people who watched the plays at the Globe Theater. And the ones who heard the troubadors sing their stories of chivalry. And the Greeks who listened to the stories of Homer. When it comes to “feeling,” color is vastly overrated. So are pictures, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/9 "2015-08-19T21:43:09Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Engrossing novels had been around for a couple of centuries before any cinema, so I also vote “no.” Homer’s Odyssey was even a bit earlier than that. Edit: What \*\*kunilou \*\*said. OK, make it Gilgamesh. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/10 "2015-08-20T06:27:29Z")
Those pictures of animals & magicians seen on the walls of caves by flickering firelight must have made quite an impression. But I agree that \*GWTW \*really sucks you in. It almost makes me nostalgic for the Romance of the Old South. Then reality kicks in. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/11 "2015-08-20T14:30:24Z")
Don’t underestimate how caught up people got in silent movies. There’s a reason they exploded from novelty at fairs to biggest thing in America in a matter of years. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/12 "2015-08-20T23:36:32Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Those pictures of animals & magicians seen on the walls of caves by flickering firelight must have made quite an impression. > > But I agree that \*GWTW \*really sucks you in. It almost makes me nostalgic for the Romance of the Old South. Then reality kicks in. But I agree that \*GWTW \*really sucks [del]you in[/del]. I think your cat must have typed some words by accident when you weren’t looking. I fixed it. No charge. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/13 "2015-08-20T23:44:25Z")
One could just as well give the title to _Avatar_, as the first to do 3D well. If people can be immersed in the 2D _GwtW_, then they could be immersed in earlier black-and-white movies. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/14 "2015-08-20T23:54:56Z")
Goethe’s 1774 _Sorrows of Young Werther_ triggered suicides among its young readership. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/15 "2015-08-21T00:02:07Z")
If my experience is any indication, I’m pretty sure that people watching the original performances of Shakespeare’s plays were immersed in another reality. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/16 "2015-08-21T02:06:16Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/17 "2015-08-21T05:28:49Z")
There are accounts or urban legends that the very first projected films would panic audiences. > **[L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Arriv%C3%A9e_d%27un_train_en_gare_de_La_Ciotat)** > > L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (translated from French into English as The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station, Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (US) and The Arrival of the Mail Train, and in the United Kingdom as Train Pulling into a Station) is an 1895 French short documentary film directed and produced by Auguste and Louis Lumière. Contrary to myth, it was not shown at the Lumières' first public film screening on 28 December 1895 in Paris, France: the programme of ten films shown... This article links to sources that suggest this is something of a myth. Though my old World Book Encyclopedia has a similar account of an early Lumiere Brothers film from the 1890s; ladies would lift their skirts to avoid the “water” while viewing a film of waves crashing on a beach. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/v6i3uccnZhQ/hqdefault.jpg ""Entrée d'un train en gare de la Ciotat" (ciné-concert)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6i3uccnZhQ) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/18 "2015-08-21T15:31:37Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > But I agree that \*GWTW \*really sucks [del]you in[/del]. > > I think your cat must have typed some words by accident when you weren’t looking. I fixed it. No charge. Yeah-those happy slaves-singing as they worked, dressed in rags-they really loved the Antebellum South! ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-film-gone-with-the-wind-as-the-first-time-a-person-could-feel-like-being-in-another-reality/728281/19 "2015-08-22T11:50:30Z")
[quote=“syncrolecyne, post:17, topic:728281”] There are accounts or urban legends that the very first projected films would panic audiences. > **[L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Arriv%C3%A9e_d%27un_train_en_gare_de_La_Ciotat)** > > L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (translated from French into English as The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station, Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (US) and The Arrival of the Mail Train, and in the United Kingdom as Train Pulling into a Station) is an 1895 French short documentary film directed and produced by Auguste and Louis Lumière. Contrary to myth, it was not shown at the Lumières' first public film screening on 28 December 1895 in Paris, France: the programme of ten films shown... This article links to sources that suggest this is something of a myth. Though my old World Book Encyclopedia has a similar account of an early Lumiere Brothers film from the 1890s; ladies would lift their skirts to avoid the “water” while viewing a film of waves crashing on a beach. [/QUOTE] Look at how far back from the train those passengers are standing! There were a lot of early fatalities from trains because the technology was so different, and there was an early perception that trains were very dangerous. Many years ago I was taught that people perceive all film/TV footage as “true”, then discount it in post-processing. And I’ve seen a grown man flinch from a paper airplane: there is something about having something come in towards your head that seem to activate a primeval response.