Almost every studio in Hollywood has a skeleton in its closet in regards to a film in its catalog that doesn’t stand up to the test of time. Disney has “The Song of the South,” as well as a lot of older cartoons with racist depictions of characters. WarnerMedia has similar issues with some of its content, including one of the most revered films of all time, “Gone with the Wind.” And in light of the recent protests that have sprung up after the brutal killing of George Floyd and being called out by a prominent filmmaker, it appears that WarnerMedia isn’t going to allow “Gone with the Wind” to exist on its streaming service, HBO Max. At least, not as it normally would.
According to Deadline, WarnerMedia has taken the step of removing “Gone with the Wind” from HBO Max after the film became the source of controversy for its depiction of the South during the Civil War-era, specifically with how it depicts Black characters.
“‘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,” said a HBO Max statement. “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. 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 controversy surrounding “Gone with the Wind” and HBO Max started on Monday, when writer-director John Ridley spoke out about the film and its racist imagery.
“It doesn’t just ‘fall short’ with regard to representation,” wrote Ridley in a Los Angeles Times Op-Ed. “It is a film that glorifies the antebellum south. It is a film that, when it is not ignoring the horrors of slavery, pauses only to perpetuate some of the most painful stereotypes of People of Color.”
He added, “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 own, sell and buy human beings.”
As is mentioned in the statement from HBO Max, this isn’t the end of the epic film, as “Gone with the Wind” will eventually return to the streaming service. But for now, until the platform can figure out how to present one of the most famous features of all time, Victor Fleming’s film doesn’t have a place on HBO Max.