American streaming service HBO Max has been temporarily removed from the catalog one of the recognized masterpieces of pre-war Hollywood – the picture “gone with the wind.” In the film adaptation of the novel by Margaret Mitchell saw the racism and considered it inappropriate in the period of mass protests against police violence in the United States.
In a statement to Variety, HBO REP Max called “Gone with the wind” “a product of its time”, reflecting the then prevalent in American society, racial prejudice. “These racist images were wrong then, as today, so we felt it was irresponsible to leave the film without explanation and condemnation”, – quotes the edition of the representative of the streaming service.
According to him, much in the film contradicts the values of the company that owns HBO Max WarnerMedia. Therefore, when the painting will return to the catalog, it will be accompanied by a discussion of the historical context and condemning racist moments. At the same time, he believes, does not show the picture in its original form would be trying to claim that racial prejudice never existed.
after being released in 1939, “gone with the wind” became the first ever color feature film, and in 1940 its creators received ten Oscars. Among them was the award for best film, and who performed a role in the film the maids Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American woman, received the “Oscar” for best supporting actor. However, during the ceremony she had to sit at a separate table at the far end of the hall because of racial segregation. The film tells the love story of the daughter of a planter in the background of the events during and after the Civil war in the United States.
Earlier column criticizing the painting for the romanticizing of slavery, delivered in the Los Angeles Times, the screenwriter of the film “12 years a slave” John Ridley. In his opinion, “gone with the wind” glorifies the orders that prevailed in the southern United States before the abolition of slavery. Thus, the movie perpetuates “racism, causing anger and bitterness that are forcing AmericansEB out on the streets.”
Text: To.Hi-tech
