For the platform to keep this film in its catalog “without explanation and denunciation of this representation would have been irresponsible”
Released in 1939, the film Gone with the Wind is currently the subject of controversy, in a particularly tense context of demonstrations and indignation since the death of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, USA. Indeed, judged racist, this feature film has been withdrawn from the HBO Max platform.
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The film Gone with the Wind, released in 1939, is a reinterpretation of a particularly dark period in American history. It is primarily a particularly romantic version of the South and an almost idealized view of slavery, especially with domestic staff shown as satisfied with their daily lives and treated as ordinary employees. Lost Cause also argued that the Southern states had fought for political independence, under threat from the North, and not to maintain slavery. This, however, is not historical truth.
Against a backdrop of tensions and demonstrations denouncing racism and police violence against Blacks in the United States, this film has been deemed racist and qualified as Southern revisionism by several historians and academics. It was therefore removed from the HBO Max streaming platform. “Gone with the Wind is a product of its time and depicts racist prejudices that were common in American society,” an HBO Max spokesman said. For the platform, keeping the film in this catalogue “without explanation and denunciation of this representation would have been irresponsible”.
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HBO Max wants to put the film back online but only in a particular context in order to put the feature film back in its time. It will be shown in its entirety because to do otherwise “would amount to acting as if these prejudices had never existed,” the spokesman added. Gone with the Wind is still available on other platforms such as Amazon for rent.
Source : Konbini
