Despite being the highest-grossing
films of all time, Gone With the Wind has left a scar on our hearts that time
can never heal. It is one of the most celebrated films in history but still the
most tone-deaf and stereotypical in its context.

The films won 10 Oscars
including the award for best-supporting actress won by Hattie McDaniel, the
first African-American woman to win in this category.

The movie is adapted
from the novel of the same title and is based around the time of civil war. It
has depicted African Americans in an exasperatingly stereotypical manner.
Whether you take the character of Hattie McDaniel or the staircase scene, this
movie raises many eyebrows when it is watched today. It is clearly obvious that
the most successful film of all time has not aged well.

Although the debates
surrounding this movie have somehow been one and the same, HBO Max’s latest
decision to temporarily remove it with a bunch of black American documentaries
has clearly reignited them.

The service’s
spokesperson has confirmed that the movie will return, but it will be reviewed
first in light of “its historical context.”

Source: The Blast

Filmmaker John Ridley
opened up about the film and noted that that movie not only “glorifies the antebellum south” but
also plays it’s part well in perpetuating “some of the most painful stereotypes
of people of color.”

Recently, Disney+ had a
similar experience when it was supposed to rotate the 1946 film “Song of the South” and after much
contemplation, it decided to pull it down. Additionally, “Dumbo” opens up with a disclaimer: “This program is presented as originally created. It may contain
outdated cultural depictions.”

Coming back to Gone
With The Wind, Alyssa Rosenberg of the Washington Post notes that even McDaniel’s
phenomenal performance “couldn’t wholly
transcend the trope of a loyal slave who rejects freedom and prefers to serve
her former owners.”

Back in 2017, the
discussion began again when a theatre in Memphis, Tennessee discouraged the
screening of the movie after the protest in Charlottesville.

“You can’t sweep history under the rug. But it’s important to have
context whenever you’re viewing material of this kind. Otherwise, people can
embrace and celebrate it without dealing with the whole truth.” – Said USC
professor of media and cinema studies Todd Boyd while speaking to the Los
Angeles Times.

Thus, it can be
concluded that even Hollywood cringes at its own history and the amount of
neglect it has shown to the very people who’ve given their whole lives to the
business. It’s about time we stop turning a blind eye to the merciless
treatment.