How 'Gone With The Wind' Will Be Different When It Returns to HBO Max
Gone With The Wind fans, we have some good news. After HBO Max removed the movie from its film roster on June 10 and sent film fanatics into a frenzy, the 1939 film will return to the streaming giant for viewing.
This time around, however, the controversial Civil War epic will include some perspective for its audiences. Jacqueline Stewart, University of Chicago professor in the department of Cinema and Media Studies and Turner Classic Movies host, revealed that she would provide an introduction that will place the film in "its multiple historical contexts."
The 1939 Civil War epic won eight Academy Awards at the 1940 ceremony and is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. However, Gone With The Wind is also heavily criticized for its depiction of black people and its glorification of slavery.
The TCM Silent Sunday Nights host said Gone With The Wind "romanticizes slavery as a benign and benevolent institution," in an op-ed for CNN on June 13. However, she argued that because of the ongoing racial injustice and Black Lives Matters protests, Gone with the Wind should stay on HBO Max for "viewing, analysis and discussion."
"For me, this is an opportunity to think about what classic films can teach us," Stewart wrote. "Right now, people are turning to movies for racial re-education, and the top-selling books on Amazon are about anti-racism and racial inequality. If people are really doing their homework, we may be poised to have our most informed, honest and productive national conversations yet about Black lives on screen and off."
The TCM host also stated that the epic is a "valuable document of and testimony to Black performance during an era when substantial roles for Black talent were extremely rare in Hollywood films." Hattie McDaniel, who famously portrayed the maid Mammy, was the first first black person to be nominated for an Oscar, and won that year in the Best Supporting Actress category.
She believes that the film gives audiences a chance to use classic films as a tool for education. "If people are really doing their homework, we may be poised to have our most informed, honest and productive national conversations yet about Black lives on screen and off," Stewart added.
HBO Max previously pulled Gone With The Wind on June 10 the wake of the protests following George Floyd's death and the global conversations being had about systemic racism. The "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 streaming giant said in a statement to CNN at the time.
When Gone With The Wind will return to HBO Max has yet to be revealed.
Newsweek did not receive comment from HBO Max at the time of publication.
