‘Gone with the Wind’ removed from HBO Max over ‘racist depictions’

HBO Max has pulled ‘Gone with the Wind’, an epic historical romance film, from its streaming platform amid protests in the United States over the movie’s “racist depictions”.

Over the past few days, talks about racism have dominated the media space following the death of George Floyd, the black man who was killed after a white policeman knelt on his neck while attempting to arrest him.

According to CNN, ‘Gone with the Wind’, which follows the story of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler during the US civil war, was removed after criticisms increased over its “depiction of slavery”.

It was gathered that the thriller, which features slaves who seem content with their lot even after slavery was abolished, will return at an unspecified date after a discussion of its historical context.

Speaking on the development, a spokesperson for HBO Max admitted that the movie is a product of its time and depicts some “racial prejudices that have been commonplace in American society.”

“These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. We felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement would be irresponsible,” the spokesperson explained.

“It will return with a discussion of its historical context and will be presented as it was originally created because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed.

“If we are to create a more just, equitable, and inclusive future, we must first acknowledge and understand our history.”

John Ridley, an Academy award-winning screenwriter of ’12 Years a Slave’, had earlier written an opinion editorial in the Los Angeles Times, asking HBO Max to take the film out of its rotation.

“It’s a film that glorifies the antebellum south. When it is not ignoring the horrors of slavery, it pauses only to perpetuate some of the most painful stereotypes of people of color,” Ridley had said.

“The movie had the very best talents in Hollywood at that time working together to sentimentalize a history that never was.

“I would ask, after an amount of time has passed, that the film is re-introduced with others that give a more broad-based and complete picture of what slavery and the confederacy truly were.”