HBO Max pulls 'Gone With the Wind' from library amid racial tensions

[Johnny]

By Joseph A. Wulfsohn
Published 8 hours ago

HBO Max pulled the Oscar-winning Civil War epic "Gone With the Wind"
from its library amid heightened racial tensions following the death of
George Floyd.

ScreenRant and The Wall Street Journal were the first to report that
the newly launched streaming service yanked the 1939 film, which takes
place at an Atlanta plantation. Critics in the modern era have
criticized "Gone With the Wind" for its depiction of black people.

The film won eight Oscars including best picture and made history when
Hattie McDaniel became the first black American to win an Oscar for her
performance.

Cut!

A spokesperson for HBO Max explained its decision and its plans to put
the film back on the platform but with added "historical context."

"'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," the statement said. "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."


The spokesperson continued, "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.

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/hbo-max-pulls-gone-with-the-wind-from-library-amid-racial-tensions

So HBO thinks people are so stupid, they don't know this movie shows
slavery?

Now people will have to sit and listen to a discussion about slavery
before then can watch the movie.

And Gone With the Wind is not a product of it's time. I could be made
today, and to be correct it would have to show slaves.

Might as well live in communist China, if history is going to be hidden
or whitewashed.

[John Wesley Harding]

It's not going to be either, you biased and ignorant racist. It will be
re released with an explanatory part at the beginning.

--
‘Why do liberals think Trump supporters are stupid?’

THE SERIOUS ANSWER: Here’s what the majority of anti-Trump voters
honestly feel about Trump supporters en masse:

That when you saw a man who had owned a fraudulent University, intent on
scamming poor people, you thought "Fine."
(https://www.usatoday.com/…/trump-university-sett…/502387002/)
That when you saw a man who had made it his business practice to stiff
his creditors, you said, "Okay."
(https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hotel-paid-millions-in-…)
That when you heard him proudly brag about his own history of sexual
abuse, you said, "No problem."
(https://abcnews.go.com/…/list-trumps-accusers-allega…/story…)
That when he made up stories about seeing Muslim-Americans in the
thousands cheering the destruction of the World Trade Center, you said,
"Not an issue."
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/donald-trumps-outrageous-…/)
That when you saw him brag that he could shoot a man on Fifth Avenue and
you wouldn't care, you exclaimed, "He sure knows me."
(https://www.usatoday.com/…/president-donald-tru…/4073405002/)
That when you heard him relating a story of an elderly guest of his
country club, an 80-year old man, who fell off a stage and hit his head,
to Trump replied: “‘Oh my God, that’s disgusting,’ and I turned away. I
couldn’t—you know, he was right in front of me, and I turned away. I
didn’t want to touch him. He was bleeding all over the place. And I felt
terrible, because it was a beautiful white marble floor, and now it had
changed color. Became very red.” You said, "That's cool!"
(https://www.gq.com/story/donald-trump-howard-stern-story)
That when you saw him mock the disabled, you thought it was the funniest
thing you ever saw.
(https://www.nbcnews.com/…/donald-trump-criticized-after-he-…)
That when you heard him brag that he doesn't read books, you said,
"Well, who has time?"
(https://www.theatlantic.com/…/americas-first-post-t…/549794/)
That when the Central Park Five were compensated as innocent men
convicted of a crime they didn't commit, and he angrily said that they
should still be in prison, you said, "That makes sense."
(https://www.usatoday.com/…/what-trump-has-said-…/1501321001/)
That when you heard him tell his supporters to beat up protesters and
that he would hire attorneys, you thought, "Yes!"
(https://www.latimes.com/…/la-na-trump-campaign-protests-201…)
That when you heard him tell one rally to confiscate a man's coat before
throwing him out into the freezing cold, you said, "What a great guy!"
(https://www.independent.co.uk/…/donald-trump-orders-protest…)
That you have watched the parade of neo-Nazis and white supremacists
with whom he curries favor, while refusing to condemn outright Nazis,
and you have said, "Thumbs up!"
(https://www.theatlantic.com/…/why-cant-trump-just-c…/567320/)
That you hear him unable to talk to foreign dignitaries without
insulting their countries and demanding that they praise his electoral
win, you said, "That's the way I want my President to be."
(https://www.huffpost.com/…/trump-insult-foreign-countries-l…)
That you have watched him remove expertise from all layers of government
in favor of people who make money off of eliminating protections in the
industries they're supposed to be regulating and you have said, "What a
genius!" (https://www.politico.com/…/138-trump-policy-changes-2017-00…)
That you have heard him continue to profit from his businesses, in part
by leveraging his position as President, to the point of overcharging
the Secret Service for space in the properties he owns, and you have
said, "That's smart!"
(https://www.usnews.com/…/how-is-donald-trump-profiting-from…)
That you have heard him say that it was difficult to help Puerto Rico
because it was in the middle of water and you have said, "That makes
sense." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/the-very-big-ocean-betwee…/)
That you have seen him start fights with every country from Canada to
New Zealand while praising Russia and quote, "falling in love" with the
dictator of North Korea, and you have said, "That's statesmanship!"
(https://www.cnn.com/…/donald-trump-dictators-kim…/index.html)
That Trump separated children from their families and put them in cages,
managed to lose track of 1500 kids, has opened a tent city incarceration
camp in the desert in Texas - he explains that they’re just “animals” -
and you say, “Well, OK then.”
(https://www.nbcnews.com/…/more-5-400-children-split-border-…)
That you have witnessed all the thousand and one other manifestations of
corruption and low moral character and outright animalistic rudeness and
contempt for you, the working American voter, and you still show up
grinning and wearing your MAGA hats and threatening to beat up anybody
who says otherwise.
(https://www.americanprogress.org/…/confronting-cost-trumps…/)

What you don't get, Trump supporters, is that our succumbing to
frustration and shaking our heads, thinking of you as stupid, may very
well be wrong and unhelpful, but it's also...hear me...charitable.

Because if you're NOT stupid, we must turn to other explanations, and
most of them are less flattering.

[Josh Rosenbluth]

I agree HBO should not pull Gone With the Wind, although a discussion
about the racial depictions is a very good idea (the depiction of Prissy
is particularly cringe worthy). Ben Mankiewicz does so when the movie is
aired on TCM.

All that being said, Gone With the Wind deserves the award for most
overrated movie ever. And it's not even a close contest. It swept the
Oscars and has been consistently rated among the best movies of all
time. To me, it is a bad soap opera with ridiculous dialogue and
mediocre acting from Leigh.

[Johnny]

I never cared much about it. I think it appeals more to women.

[Josh Rosenbluth]

I considered a major accomplishment that I didn't turn the TV off before
the movie ended (I saw it on TCM).

[El Castor]

I agree.

Some of my personal favorites ...

Singing In The Rain
Star Wars 4 -- The Original
Pulp Fiction
Blade Runner
Wizard of Oz

[Josh Rosenbluth]

The Godfather stands above all other movies in my opinion.

[El Castor]

On Wed, 10 Jun 2020 13:59:16 -0700, Josh Rosenbluth

I wouldn't go that far, but it is a great one(s). We have a spare
bedroom that we turned into a small home theater -- projector and 106"
drop down screen. Cooped up as we are we watch a movie every night.
Godfather 1 & 2 last week. They are my wife's favorite.

Singing In The Rain is a remarkable movie. The famous Donald O'Connor
dance, the one where he throws himself through a wall at the end, was
incredibly shot in one take. O'Connor spent 3 days in the hospital
recovering. Debbie Reynolds was 19 when she made the film and was not
a dancer. After Gene Kelly got through with her every step was
perfect. Revolutionary film, as Hollywood musicals go.

Maybe it's my age, but I can't say I'm too fond of the current movie
crop. CGI seems to have taken the place of plot and acting. Today's
music also comes up short. For me, most good music ended about 1975.

[Josh Rosenbluth]

The golden age of animated feature films, thanks to Pixar and Studio
Ghibli, is a recent phenomenon.

[El Castor]

On Wed, 10 Jun 2020 16:00:57 -0700, Josh Rosenbluth

Toy Story was a great little movie, and saved Steve Jobs. Granted that
CGI is more recent than 1975, but most modern music and CGI have
something in common -- mindless noise, and in the case of CGI,
destruction, in place of real talent. There are exceptions. A movie
like Jungle Book's CGI portrayal of animals was magical, but endless
explosions and some monster tearing down New York, not so much. At any
rate, I think the era of the movie theater is drawing to a close. Our
virus friend may have hastened the process.

[Josh Rosenbluth]

It's not the CGI that makes Toy Story great. It's the script and the
directing. Moreover, Studio Ghibli doesn't use CGI. So, the best scripts
and directing in animation have come in recent times.

[El Castor]

On Wed, 10 Jun 2020 18:18:49 -0700, Josh Rosenbluth

Agreed on Toy Story, but Studio Ghibli? Not my cup of tea.

[Josh Rosenbluth]

That's too bad. Spirited Away is the best animated movie of all time.

[El Castor]

On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 08:08:20 -0700, Josh Rosenbluth

OK, I'll give it a try, but if Spirited Away is the savior and future
of the motion picture industry, well,uh ...