“Gone With the Wind” is now not out there on HBO Max. On Tuesday, amid a bigger cultural dialog about systemic racism, the movie was quietly faraway from WarnerMedia’s new streaming service.
But the corporate plans to deliver the movie again at a future date, accompanied by “a discussion of its historical context” and a “denouncement” of the movie’s racist content material.
“‘Gone With The Wind’ is a product of its time and depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society. These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today, and we felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible,” an HBO Max spokesperson mentioned in an announcement supplied to TheWrap.
“These depictions are certainly counter to WarnerMedia’s values, so when we return the film to HBO Max, it will return with a discussion of its historical context and a denouncement of those very depictions, but will be presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. If we are to create a more just, equitable and inclusive future, we must first acknowledge and understand our history.”
The transfer comes simply someday after a Los Angeles Times op-ed through which “12 Years a Slave” screenwriter John Ridley referred to as on HBO to take away the movie from streaming. In the put up, Ridley criticized “Gone With the Wind” for glorifying the pre-Civil War south, minimizing slavery and for its many racist portrayals of black folks.
“It is a film that, as part of the narrative of the ‘Lost Cause,’ romanticizes the Confederacy in a way that continues to give legitimacy to the notion that the secessionist movement was something more, or better, or more noble than what it was — a bloody insurrection to maintain the “right” to personal, promote and purchase human beings,” Ridley wrote.
But Ridley didn’t name for the movie to be destroyed or completely faraway from exhibition. “Let me be real clear: I don’t believe in censorship,” he mentioned. “I would just ask, after a respectful amount of time has passed, that the film be re-introduced to the HBO Max platform along with other films that give a more broad-based and complete picture of what slavery and the Confederacy truly were. Or, perhaps it could be paired with conversations about narratives and why it’s important to have many voices sharing stories from different perspectives rather than merely those reinforcing the views of the prevailing culture.”
The 1939 movie was an enormous stumble on launch, turning into the highest-earning movie as much as the purpose, a document it nonetheless holds when figures are adjusted for inflation. It additionally gained 10 Academy Awards, together with Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel, the primary ever Oscar for a Black actor. But the movie has additionally lengthy been criticized for perpetuating falsehoods in regards to the American Civil War and slavery, and for romanticizing the confederacy and the south, together with portraying racist violence in a constructive mild.
