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'Gone with the Wind' removed from HBO Max after racism protests

52 Comments
By Andrew MARSZAL

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Lol.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Calm down, GWTW isn't being destroyed. It's been shelved from one streaming service.

If you're that panicked about it, you can always buy the Blue-Ray edition.

-14 ( +13 / -27 )

For the most part people and corporations are just virtue signalling. I mean...they just decided now that every white person is racist? Sounds like a marketing strategy to build sales. Aint gonna work.

6 ( +16 / -10 )

Calm down, GWTW isn't being destroyed. It's been shelved from one streaming service.

Calm down, it's only a statue of a bad person.

Calm down, it's only a classic novel which is no longer appropriate.

Calm down, it's only a person who comitted wrongthink.

3 ( +19 / -16 )

For the most part people and corporations are just virtue signalling.

You've spoken to all of them? Impressive!

I mean...they just decided now that every white person is racist?

Nobody has said that. Read the article again; it's a temporary move for the film:

The film will return to the recently launched streaming platform at a later date, along with a discussion of its historical context, the company said.

No edits will be made, "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."

Sounds fair enough, doesn't it?

-6 ( +10 / -16 )

As a movie buff, I loved and still love the movie, but it was a creature of its time and of that era's prejudices, just as in 100 years we will be found to be. Anyone watching it now should surely watch it with a slightly jaded eye, separating the story (pretty good) from the social implications of the portrayals.

20 ( +22 / -2 )

Anyone watching it now should surely watch it with a slightly jaded eye, separating the story (pretty good) from the social implications of the portrayals.

Indeed. I watched it again some years ago, and while it's still epic, it is flawed. I don't want to see it destroyed or edited but it will be nice to see it framed in a wider context. In the same way the early Tintin books have been, for example. You could see Herge's journey from naieve young artist with colonialist beliefs right through to someone who satirised regimes and tyrants.

-2 ( +12 / -14 )

People need a thicker skin

11 ( +23 / -12 )

People need a thicker skin

Education and context is such a terrible thing, eh, Vince?

-16 ( +9 / -25 )

I demand that White Chicks be removed from all streaming services and places of sale. Owners should voluntarily destroy copies they have and the government should investigate if someone is suspected of owning a working copy.

"White Face" is NOT acceptable!! Racism is ANY form is NOT acceptable!!

5 ( +14 / -9 )

This is dangerous and used by the right to make the left look like children who can’t be trusted to use their own judgement.

It’s hard to argue with that conclusion.

1 ( +9 / -8 )

Song of the South has been all but locked up by Disney for decades. Culture changes over time, and corporations can do what they please with the properties that they own.

That said, we should all take a deep breath here. Physical copies of the movie aren't being confiscated, and the movie is in the Library of Congress National Film Registry. It's not going anywhere.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

Calm down, it's only a classic novel which is no longer appropriate.

Nobody's banning any novels. No Spycatchers here.

Calm down, it's only a person who comitted wrongthink.

It's a film which is going to be shown again, un-edited, with probably a bit at the beginning about historical context. Like what Kermode, Cousins or back in the day, Cox did with his Moviedrome series. Or at any public discussion and showing of a classic film. At festivals, cinema clubs and so on.

The hyperbole is strong with this one.

-8 ( +5 / -13 )

People need a thicker skin

People need to start complaining about being treated like children.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

That said, we should all take a deep breath here. Physical copies of the movie aren't being confiscated, and the movie is in the Library of Congress National Film Registry. It's not going anywhere.

Exactly. But sticking to facts or what's said in the article is not as much fun as wild and inaccurate conjecture for some of the gang.

-4 ( +6 / -10 )

Calm down, it's only a statue of a bad person.

Calm down, it's only a classic novel which is no longer appropriate.

Calm down, it's only a person who comitted wrongthink.

Repeating your point does not amount to a rebuttal. You are still presenting the removal of a film from a streaming service as a precursor to the 'disappearance' of people for not agreeing with you. This is (at best) ridiculous. Gone With The Wind is widely available in book and home media. Seems a stretch to connect it to kidnapping and murder, no?

6 ( +11 / -5 )

I never said it was being destroyed or banned. Restriction of choice, lad.

How exactly is the temporary removal of GWTW from one streaming service, only to be brought back, un-edited, but with a possible introduction at the start a "restriction of choice"?

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

A solution without big disruptions is to insert into the film a piece of notes for explanation to the viewers, as we can see such in classic-type literature or other cultural productions.  

Alongside ongoing "statue down" campaigns, I find it a bit overreacting and irrelevant. Many historic and cultural properties can hardly be exempted from dark history or contexts. But we shouldn't judge history in our contemporary value systems. Should we also pull down pyramids or the Great Walls, a symbol of oppression, or ban Shakespeare whose work contain sheer bigotry and prejudice?

4 ( +6 / -2 )

It's an overreaction, I think. As far I can tell, the film isn't really about slavery. Anyway, films react the attitudes of their era.

Which movie will be targeted next? Breakfast at Tiffany's because of Mickey Rooney's stereotyped portrayal of a buck-toothed Japanese man? Now that really was offensive, even in the 1960s when it was made. At least on the DVD, there was a documentary on that very subject.

If Gone With the Wind is rereleased on DVD, I'd like to see a similar documentary in the extra material.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

Have never seen all of that movie and never cared about seeing it. Good riddance. Next "Birth of a Nation." Times are changing and the people who haven't really been heard are rising up and speaking loudly and many in power are listening. It can only make the nation as a whole greater. Hope others follow HBO Max's lead and then "Gone with the Wind" can be gone with the wind for good.

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

"12 Years A Slave" writer John Ridley said in a Los Angeles Times op-ed Monday that "Gone with the Wind" must be removed as it "doesn't just 'fall short' with regard to representation" but ignores the horrors of slavery and perpetuates "some of the most painful stereotypes of people of color."

Talk about hypocrisy. Solomon Northup wrote 12 Years a Slave after actually enduring 12 nightmare years of abuse. John Ridley is a Hollywood writer from a comfortable background who simply wrote a screenplay based loosely on the book. Worse yet, he took all of Mr. Northup's wisdom and instead made all the white characters into 2 dimensional caricatures of evil, instead of presenting people as they were, some bad, some good - which was more powerful because it made the reader know that decent if imperfect people lived in a society that had indecent values.

I wish we had the wisdom of people like Solomon Northup these days, rather than profit and power motivated sharks like Ridley who want to burn history and start from Year One.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Which movie will be targeted next?

I nominate "Ghandi" directed by Richard Attenborough. Afterall, Ghandi came out with many anti-black racist comments in his life, like how Africans were inferior to Indians. Students in Ghana had his statue removed on their campus.

Indeed, very few people in history pass today's standards on racism. So we should just purge them, burn their books, rename streets and buildings bearing their names and then declare "Year Zero." Like the Khmer Rouge did.

3 ( +9 / -6 )

THX 1138 or Idiocracy, take your pic. Could go both ways. The elite who running the show will still be in their New Zealand bunkers sipping margaritas and watching Gone with the wind.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"

8 ( +8 / -0 )

So we should just purge them, burn their books, rename streets and buildings bearing their names and then declare "Year Zero." Like the Khmer Rouge did.

Literally, nobody is saying this.

As for re-naming streets? That happens all the time, in many countries. I'd give you precise examples, both recent and throughout history but seemingly, that's off topic.

And apparently, nobody can answer my question above; how exactly is the temporary removal of GWTW from one streaming service, only to be brought back, un-edited, but with a possible introduction at the start a "restriction of choice"?

I mean, even the replies here are being edited. Kind of ironic, dontcha think?

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

Bugle Boy of Company BToday  04:29 pm JST

I demand that White Chicks be removed from all streaming services and places of sale. Owners should voluntarily destroy copies they have and the government should investigate if someone is suspected of owning a working copy.

"White Face" is NOT acceptable!! Racism is ANY form is NOT acceptable!!

I agree, remove it, but why did you only name one movie? Surely there are more you know? Allow me to help you. How about the one with Mickey Rooney in buck teeth playing a Japanese or the original Last of the Mohicans with a whole bunch of whites playing Native Americans? Or any John Wayne movie where whites always play Native Americans. Maybe Trading Places where Dan Ackroyd plays a Rastafarian. Al Jolson anyone? The list on that side is waaaay longer. So many hurt feelings here on JT now but nobody cared when others' feelings were hurt for decades.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Breakfast at Tiffany's because of Mickey Rooney's stereotyped portrayal of a buck-toothed Japanese man? Now that really was offensive, even in the 1960s when it was made. At least on the DVD, there was a documentary on that very subject

Exactly. It hasn't been banned or edited and the racism has been addressed, as you say, via a documentary.

Wonderful film, despite the horrible stereotype.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

So many hurt feelings here on JT now but nobody cared when others' feelings were hurt for decades.

Not one of them able to discuss context or what is actually going to happen with the film.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Oh, come on! It’s a fictional film! Is Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” next?

Couldn’t Samuel L Jackson’s portrayal of the house-slave Stephen also be criticized for “ignoring the horrors of slavery and perpetuating painful stereotypes of people of color”?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

The fake rage from right wingers who probably haven’t even read the book is astounding!!!

If they had shown half the rage at racism , the world would have been a better place.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Absolutely disgusting move.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Lol, people forgot about Rhett's rape of Scarlett? That's been OK?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Oh and the movie with Scarlett Johnson playing a Japanese anime character in Ghost in the Shell or something like that.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Next they're going to remove "To Kill a Mockingbird" from Netflix.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Sounds like a knee-jerk response, but John Ridley is calling for it - others may too and we may get to the stage where a twitter army objects to future showings of the movie.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The portrayal of the Japanese photographer in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is outlandishly racist.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Losing a lot of respect for some of these streaming sites and TV networks. Weak.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I demand that White Chicks be removed from all streaming services and places of sale. Owners should voluntarily destroy copies they have and the government should investigate if someone is suspected of owning a working copy.

"White Face" is NOT acceptable!! Racism is ANY form is NOT acceptable!!

The fact that you specifically mention this film (in which black men dress as white women), suggests to me that you wish to equivocate this with racist movies. I do not take this really at face value (having seen your posts over the years) and it is a clear attempt to belittle the underlying claim of racist depictions. All a bit like saying "All lives matter".

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Absolutely disgusting move

That's a bit of an overstatement, but then again, you were making quite dramatic statements about George Floyd's funeral ("you would think it were MLK or Abraham Lincoln himself lying in that casket! For goodness sake!").

It's not a disgusting movie, but it is 80 years old and there are elements to it that no longer reflect how people think. If the movie was made today, it would be made very definitely.

And it's got Leslie Howard in - one of my favourite actors of all time.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

This is stupid & daft all round...… as Jimio says do we have to be treated like children.....

Surely anyone with half a brain watching GWTW & other older movies & TV shows can figure out on their OWN that some of the things portrayed would not be appropriate at present, this feigned BS HBO Max should be tossed aside for the gross stupidity it is!!!

Perhaps a better approach if they want to "teach" everyone is to simply make a program that uses examples form the past that wouldn't fly today & why, but to pull GWTW & put it back up later with ""explanations"" LOL is just too stupid & woke......I see thick skin is a rare thing these days, heaven help us all!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The fact that you specifically mention this film (in which black men dress as white women), suggests to me that you wish to equivocate this with racist movies. I do not take this really at face value (having seen your posts over the years) and it is a clear attempt to belittle the underlying claim of racist depictions. All a bit like saying "All lives matter".

Actually, it's satire. And you should take it at face value. Was it better when I suggested that Scarlett Johnson shouldn't have played a Japanese anime character in Ghost in the Shell? It's not just about people with more melanin than others.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@ulysses:

The fake rage from right wingers who probably haven’t even read the book is astounding!!!

If they had shown half the rage at racism , the world would have been a better place.

Slavery doesn’t exist in America today. Jim Crow doesn’t exist in America today. But there is racism embedded in America today- it’s called affirmative action and disparate impact legal theory. These are the only racist parts of American institutions today- legalized discrimination. It is systemic and institutional.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

More cops are not trialed or found guilty than those who are.

Please provide a source for that.

You still haven't acknowledged that your statement that 1,000 unarmed people were killed by the police in 2019 was wrong. The correct number was 55.

Please stop posting misinformation.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Soft...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

We can't erase the ugly past. GWTW is a document of history in a way. But we must learn from our ugly past and not repeat it. That means to quit racist practices in the USA, to stop caging Hispanic children in death camps (that's a repeat of Nazi Germany, folks), and many many things - and it also means cleaning out the corrupt rubbish in our police, government, etc. It starts at home.

We MUST learn from our ugly mistakes and we need references like GWTW and 'Triumph Of the Will' so we can AVOID all the crap and stop repeating it. And it occurs on every continent. But we can STOP the madness.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Al start with education...not from reading a preamble of a movie. If you want to educate yourself, go to the library or watch some documentary channel.

Don't let others decide for you. Praise liberty of thought.

World will always be imperfect but you can give to the ones who can/wish to get educated the arms to understand others and the world.

Fighting lack of education does not mean we should not fight those who chose not to get educated.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Color Purple's gotta go, too!

Oh wait, can't. That's an O.W. film.

Well, how 'bout Roots?

Oh wait, can't. That stars C. Tyson, an activist.

Hmm . . .

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Every film and TV show has some stereotypes that aren't 100% accurate, including those being made today. Someone is always offended.

That goes for Sesame Street, Driving Miss Daisy, All in the Family, Roots, Gone With The Wild, Akira and Buckaroo Bonsai.

if a film, song, book, play, TV show doesn't meet with your ideals, DON'T WATCH iT!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It’s a work of -Americans really have to get over themselves....

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

But there is racism embedded in America today- it’s called affirmative action

What????? Affirmative action is racism!!!

What else is racism, desegregation???

2 ( +2 / -0 )

But there is racism embedded in America today- it’s called affirmative action

Ah, so that's what it is when cops murder unarmed black citizens?

Gotcha.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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