Oscar-winner explains concerns over 'Gone With The Wind'

HBO Max has pulled "Gone with the Wind" from its library of films.
The removal of the film comes as mass protests sweep across the United States following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed while in police custody.
The removal also comes after John Ridley, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of "12 Years a Slave," wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times this week asking HBO Max to take the film out of its rotation.
"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," Ridley wrote. "The movie had the very best talents in Hollywood at that time working together to sentimentalize a history that never was."
Ridley made it clear that he didn't want "Gone with the Wind" to be "relegated to a vault in Burbank," California, but rather be taken down for a "respectful amount of time."
"Let me be real clear: I don't believe in censorship," Ridley wrote. "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."
Ridley added that the film "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."
#GoneWithTheWind #CNN #News

[PolySpikeAndWave]

You can’t rewrite old chapters in history, you can only write new ones.

[KNR]

As long as you aren't erasing, burying, or rewriting history, fine. Don't pretend there was nothing wrong with it at the time. These things serve as signposts to see how far we have come. If you ignore or bury the past, then you stop learning from it. The problem is arbitrarily picking which racist things to go after while ignoring others. Nobody is going after Disney, or even Ford. Though I believe the film should be shown with a message about the context, going after history is a deep hole that takes a lot of energy from the present and future.

[CarmanKay]

This is dumb we have bigger things to deal with

[maxwell]

You guys are too late. I've already seen it
.

[Tahir_Ali]

This is one of the most stupid things I have heard. This is the type of censorship and action that alienates people against the movement. This does not help.

[daydoes]

That is too much. It's stupid to take it down.

[conductorstitch]

Hattie McDaniel won BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS ACADAMY AWARD FOR HER ROLE IN GONE WITH THE WIND! FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN TO WIN AN ACADAMY AWARD. SO HIDE IT. how would she feel about paving the way for women of color and loosing the work she put into it. Just cause she created history as an amazing actress and acadamy award winner. The FIRST

[mamawtina]

Gone with the Wind is representative of the time period. This is starting to get a little ridiculous.

[latimeria]

1. Gone with the wind is FICTION.
2. Gone with the wind is not a documentary.

Treat it as such.

[jockyoung]

OK, that one might be going a little too far.

[vincentm]

Im African American and I agree that the depiction of black folks was to say the least " problematic". However I really dont think removing an overall great piece of cinematic art is going to solve social injustice. Gone With The Wind and Birth Of The Nation should be two prong learning tools. Number one is that it teaches film students the craft if fine film making and number two it needs to be put in the proper context of the times in which it was filmed. Young people need to understand that those depictions were inaccurate so they can understand the complex way we dealt with race in this country. I mean we could remove the 3 stooges and The Marx Brothers and so on, it would never end. Lou Reed wrote a song called "Take a walk on the wild side" where I played bass behind a performance artist and we decided to leave in the whole thing about " colored girls". Does this make Lou Reed a bad artist? No! He was a white guy in the 70s who simply did not know any better and our performance was to show that this was a well crafted tune but also to mock the ridiculous nature of his lyric.

[alisonhart]

That's nuts. It's a wonderful story--of course it shows many, many attitudes about women--and men--that we don't have today. That doesn't make it less valued. Older stories like this could start conversations, not stop them. Censorship doesn't change how people think--it deprives them of a chance to evaluate how people thought and behaved in different times. The scene where Rhett sweeps Scarlett up the stairs--undoubtedly some would call that rape today. There are tons of issues in that story that are worth discussing and understanding. Censorship benefits NO ONE. EVER.

[Struieboy]

A ban on Gone with the Wind? Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damm!

[Ryan-qwxz]

Have you ever heard of culture evolution in China back to 60s? This is exactly what’s happening in America rn.

[tmckain]

This is the equivalent of book burning. Disgusting.

[lazlo]

This guy does realise that this was made in about 1939. It is a product of it's time. Historical context! Anybody with ANY intelligence already knows that.

[Vvonter]

But when something is banned it just makes people want it even more.

[lwty]

This is ridiculous. A prejudice no better than racism. And this definitely will feed even more racism instead of clamping down.

[osakaboyz]

In near future, “Finding Nemo” will be controversial because it’s aggressive for fish.

[marshmallowsarefabinsmores]

What about "White Chicks"? Are they taking that off also?