Recently, in the wake of the civil rights protests going on around the nation, HBO decided to remove the 1939 film of Margaret Mitchell's novel, GONE WITH THE WIND, from their downloading sight. This was understandable, given, that the film unabashedly romanticizes the days of the antebellum South, complete with happy slaves who fight for the Southern cause. A few days later, African-American film scholar Jacqueline Stewart announced that the film would return with an introduction by her that would help explain the inaccuracies of the film, and, I assume, will also explain the controversies around it. This is also understandable. GONE WITH THE WIND is, quite simply, a film that is too big, too popular (the most popular film ever when adjusted for inflation), and too influential to just pretend it was never made.
It should be mentioned that it was certainly not the first film to romanticize the South. In fact, DW Griffith's THE BIRTH OF A NATION, which went even further, and which was also extremely popular, was released way back in 1915. To his credit, David O Selznik, the producer of GONE WITH THE WIND consciously tried to avoid making another BIRTH OF A NATION, as he had all the source novel's references to the Klu Klux Klan removed. Still, not making a film that sank to the level of one of the most racist movies ever made is still not all that impressive. And while both films are often defended as products of their time, it should be remembered that were also controversial and picketed at the time of their making.
 |
| Yes, Gone With the Wind could have been as bad as this |
I first saw Gone With the Wind at a special screening for my junior high school class when I was just twelve years old. My reaction to it then was actually very similar to how I still feel about it; I was dazzled by the first half of the film, with its gorgeous technicolor visuals, amazing sets and costumes and romantic, often poetic dialogue, with the fiery spectacle of the burning of Atlanta really making a deep impression on me. And then I felt that the second half of the film lapsed into romantic melodrama, with too many big emotional moments piled together towards the end. Still, I enjoyed it overall and understood why it was considered a classic.
As for the film's racism, I must admit that as a white upper middle class child, it didn't really register with me. Yes, I of course knew about the evils of slavery and saw that all the black characters in the film were stereotypes, but it didn't occur how historically wrong the film was. I just accepted that its depiction of the South was accurate, and it wasn't until I read thought provoking analysis of the film years later that I changed my mind. And that is the real danger of the film. To this day, the film's view of Southern plantation life has bled into our national collective image of that time, making us think that its depiction was real. And so much of it is so alluring, with colorful fancy dress balls and beautiful, castle like mansions that it's easy to forget how those balls and mansions were paid for.
And much worse than those fancy balls and beautiful buildings are the scenes that show slaves happily working in the fields or cheerfully helping out the white characters. And, perhaps worst of all, we see a contingent of slaves joining together to fight against the Union soldiers! And yes it's true that Hattie Mc Daniel made history by winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and her performance in the film is undeniably great, but just like the film itself it endorsed and influenced a stereotype that would last for decades.
I think HBO is making the right move here by bringing the film back with the commentary at the beginning. This is an important and wonderfully made film that should still be viewed, but not without some context being placed on it. Personally, I always like to hear about the context of the making of any work of art that I enjoy. My interest in Fred Zinnemann's 1952 film HIGH NOON, for example, is increased by the fact that the film's story was consciously fashioned to be a metaphor for the anti-Communist witch hunts that were going on in Hollywood at that time. So people should still watch GONE WITH THE WIND, but they should also be aware about the controversy it has caused ever since it was made.
