'Gone With the Wind' pulled from HBO Max due to racist undertones in the film

HBO Max just pulled the 1939 epic Gone With the Wind due to the racist undertones in the film. Gone With the Wind is set during the American Civil War, and many critics feel that the film does a poor job of highlighting the horrors of African-American slavery during that time. In a public statement to the media, a spokesperson for HBO Max has revealed that Gone With the Wind will be back eventually, but with a statement on the context of racism added to the film. 

HBO Max pulls Gone With the Wind after critics call out the films 

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The Black Lives Matter protests in America are still going strong even weeks after George Floyd's death by the hands of a police officer. Many critics of Gone With the Wind feel like the movie's racist undertones are harmful to the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, as the film normalizes slavery and romanticises Confederate America. John Ridley, the Oscar-winning screenwriter for 12 Years a Slave, recently wrote an op-ed where he requested HBO Max to pull Gone With the Wind temporarily. 

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In his op-ed, Ridley wrote that Gone With the Wind was a film that, as part of the narrative of the 'Lost Cause', romanticized the Confederacy. This continues to give legitimacy to the notion that the secessionist movement was something nobler than what it truly was. Ridley added that in truth, the Confederacy was nothing more than a bloody insurrection to maintain the 'right' to own, sell and buy human beings. 

Such a narrative is especially problematic amid the ongoing protests in America that are calling for an end to systemic racism in the nation. However, Ridley stated that he did not believe in censorship of film. He did not want the film to be removed for forever.

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The screenwriter asked HBO Max to re-introduced the film after a respectable amount of time had passed. He also told the platform to add a proper context to the film and the Confederacy's true nature. HBO Max agreed with Ridley and other critics' sentiment and they have now pulled the film. The film will be added to the platform once a statement on racism is added to it. 

A spokesperson for HBO Max stated that Gone With The Wind was a product of its time and depicted some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society. The spokesperson added that these racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. The platform felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible.

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[Promo from Gone With the Wind Movie]