The death of George Floyd has really put everyone on edge lately with people demanding the removal of insensitive content and statues.
HBO removed Gone With the Wind from its streaming service HBO Max after 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley claimed it “glorifies the antebellum south.”
HBO said the movie “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.”
From The Daily Mail:
On Monday John Ridley, screenwriter for 12 Years A Slave, wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the film should potentially be removed.’It doesn’t just “fall short” with regard to representation,’ he wrote.’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.’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.’
So I guess period pieces are out of the question?
Did Ridley forget that Hattie McDaniel, the daughter of two former slaves, became the first black woman to win an Oscar for her portrayal as Mammy?
I haven’t seen the movie in ages because I cannot stand it, but from what I remember the movie was based during that time and is a love story. Do all movies and books from that time period have to focus on slavery?
Whatever. At least HBO Max is bringing it back even with a new description because we apparently don’t know anything about slavery or the treatment of blacks during that time period.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY