Why in my opinion removing Gone with the Wind and

[kacekwl]

movies / books that show racism is foolish. These movies are the only way many people see how black people have been treated in the past and how in many ways it's still the same. If history is taken away the ability to learn is taken away. Watching movies and reading books like To kill a mockingbird and the like educated me and disturbed me and I believe made me a better person.

[soothsayer]

1. I think they (hbo) just want to add some context

...before putting it back on, if I’ve been understanding it correctly.

But I get your point.

[hlthe2b]

2. Well, it certainly taught me how foolish the bravado behind the South's entry into the civil war

and quite frankly, most wars in general. Even as a young girl watching for the first time, I already knew better than to view the portrayal of the Antebellum South and its treatment of slaves as anything more than total fiction.

Some seem to think that my experience is the exception among those viewing the movie or reading the novel, rather than the rule. If that is true, then we surely are NOT teaching history and are failing to an abysmal level. Seems that might need to be our focus going forward.

[txwhitedove]

28. Exactly. One would think early lines from Scarlett would be context enough, "Fiddle-dee-dee.

War, war, war. This war talk's spoiling all the fun at every party this spring. I get so bored I could scream. Besides, there isn't going to be any war. . . . If either of you boys says 'war' just once again, I'll go in the house and slam the door."

[bdamomma]

3. I don't get it either.

Why take these classic movies off the air, plus it's in a person's head racism, you can't erase people's sick ideas about accepting a person who may be different from yourself or others. Plus tRump has been using gaslight techniques to escalate hate and division.

[Squinch]

9. It is NOT being taken off the air. It is being temporarily removed from HBO

while HBO makes a companion piece to explain the historical context of the attitudes it promulgates.

[Walleye]

4. The removal of Huck Finn from schools was a huge mistake.

One of the best books ever written and it was ant-slavery.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. All because of one word. A word that was carefully chosen as the ultimate sarcasm.

[Walleye]

10. Yes. Can't believe how people miss the point.

I wonder if they ever read the book. The scene where Huck apologizes to Jim brings me to tears.

[Clash City Rocker]

14. It's funny, Twain's books were banned in some places originally

Because they showed black people as people. Now they’re banned (and sometimes edited, which is just as bad) for a word that people see as dehumanizing black people. That’s the price for taking a stand on the issue early.

[Ferrets are Cool]

6. I have never been able to get past the "hospital" scene in GWTW.

I am sure that is what taught me the horrors of war. Now, there have been hundreds of more horrific scenes in the years since I first saw that one, but it is the one that stuck in my young mind.

[jmg257]

7. GWTW? Who cares...just don't mess with that holiday classic Holiday Inn.

[Squinch]

8. Gone With the Wind does NOT show how black people were treated in the past.

It shows how imaginary "not-quite-as-smart-as-REAL-people" entities were treated in the self-justifying imagination of a daughter of the south.

That is the problem. If we acknowledge institutional racism, then we need to do something to address institutional racism.

PS, it is NOT being taken off the air. Its airing on HBO is being temporarily suspended while HBO makes a companion piece to explain the historical context.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. Adding context to GWTW is not "Taking away history," good lord.

[Cirque du So-What]

12. GWTW is not history

and its depictions of black people have engendered and perpetuated negative stereotypes. And there's the rape apologia. GWTW gets kicked to the curb? Frankly, my, dear...you know the rest.

[katmondoo]

13. I always thought of Gone With the Wind as a love story

[Dial H For Hero]

15. It's extremely important to the history of film, just as is "Birth of a Nation".

For all of GWTW's faults, it's not as horribly offensive as the latter, of course. Showing GWTW with a disclaimer/commentary at the beginning seems perfectly reasonable.

[Cirque du So-What]

20. So is Triumph of the Will

which also gets praised in some quarters.

[BannonsLiver]

30. Sat down and watched that before a trip to Germany a couple years ago

It’s available on YouTube. As a fan of history, especially WW2 history, I’m glad I was able to see it for that purpose.

[Goodheart]

18. I don't think it perpetuates negative stereotypes

Modern audiences see it as racist and foolish.

[Cirque du So-What]

22. Each of the stereotypes presented in GWTW

has been handed down to the present day, fully embraced and promulgated by racists.

[ibegurpard]

16. OK

Take it to HBO. They're not a public library. We can't control their content..

[DinahMoeHum]

17. Agreed. This article by an AA woman from the South. . .

. . .helps explain why.

https://www.vulture.com/article/gone-with-the-wind-and-cinematic-monuments-to-the-confederacy.html

The article was originally written in 2017, since then, updated.

Gone With the Wind is often held up as a sterling example of the noxious racism that powers Hollywood to this day. This piece, while written three years ago, still works to illuminate how we should reconcile the industry’s racist past — not by burying it, but facing it, prickly dynamics and carefully crafted white supremacist arguments and all.

(boldface emphasis is mine - DMH)

https://www.vulture.com/article/gone-with-the-wind-and-cinematic-monuments-to-the-confederacy.html





#newrostrong

[Leith]

23. The problem with the way people interpret GWTW

is that too many people identify with Scarlett O'Hara. She is held up as the model of a strong woman who persevered through adversity and bad luck.

Never mind that she was born into an extremely wealthy family, had slaves to cater to her every whim, was so gorgeous that every man in the county wanted her hand in marriage.

Never mind that the slaves had none of her advantages and faced the same adversity on top of their already horrific and lifelong adversities. Never mind that the slaves didn't have a home to return to - let's all feel sorry for the pampered woman out there trying to get a farm going, heroically trying to do the same work as slaves did as a matter course.

I saw the movie once, about 45 years ago. I almost walked out at intermission.

[Demsrule86]

24. What is ironic in all of this...if you read the book..Gone with the wind was the first book to

show strong AA characters. And Hattie McDaniel won an Oscar for her role. Put a disclaimer on it and show it...to see where we were in 36.

[marie999]

25. What about The Littlest Rebel.

Isn't it nice to have a smiling slave who can dance?

[Dial H For Hero]

26. Or for that matter Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in "Babes on Broadway" with its extended minstrel

show sequence.

[brush]

27. Wonder if so many would be in favor of these movies, include...

"The Jazz Singer", if white people were shown in such a negative light?

It's as if these last two weeks of the nation finally becoming "woke" and seeing things from an African American perspective didn't happen at all.