Great balls of fire. Don't bother me anymore, and don't call me sugar.

I was convinced that Megan would have picked her, but Megan went down a most unexpected - and fantastic - route with her choice of favorite movie characters! (I love it, Megs.) And, you've left me open to pay homage to Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler, the gold standard for bad-ass female leads of the 20th century.

I adolized Scarlett O'Hara as a child. Her dresses, her hair, her makeup, her beaus...I had the largest crush on the Tarleton twins from the moment I saw GWTW at age 8. I even dressed up as Scarlett in the 5th grade for "Movie Character Day" at my school. The dress was an exact replica of the dress Scarlett wore at the barbeque at Twelve Oaks, surrounded by potential suitors. I had the green velvet sash, the hat...my mother even bought me a little hand-fan. The dress was loaned to me by a friend of my mothers - and let me tell you, it was really hard to give it back!

When I was fourteen, I read the book - and because of that, it's probably a bit unrealistic to say that Vivien Leigh and the movie are the only reason I love Scarlett's character so much. The book gave me a better understanding of Scarlett - she wasn't just a woman in love with a man she couldn't have - she wasn't petty just for the sake of being so - her only goal was to save her family - to save Tara - even if she didn't realize it at first. She challenged almost every role of women of her time - owning and running a company, marrying many times - all for the sake of maintaining her family's way of life before the war.

I still find time to watch at least portions of the movie when I'm home - to see Scarlett's toughness, her guile - and even her foolishness for loving Ashley when her true love is right in front of her. As I've said before, it baffles my father to no end that I watch it over and over again - just to see the same ending! But there's something so wonderful about Scarlett's strength - her singular goal of saving her family - her home, Tara - and I'm taken everytime I see that last scene of part one: