‘Gone with the Wind’ returns to HBO Max with disclaimer on slavery

LOS ANGELES: Movie classic ‘Gone with the Wind’ has returned to the HBO Max streaming platform along with two extra features discussing its depiction of race and condemnation of slavery.

The Oscar-winning 1939 film was pulled two weeks ago amid a mass reckoning in the United States regarding systemic racism triggered by nationwide protests over police brutality.

HBO Max said the film would return with a discussion of its historical context. The film is now accompanied by a four-minute introduction and a recording of a panel discussion about the movie at the Turner Classic Movie (TCM) festival in 2019.

READ MORE: ‘Gone with the Wind’ removed from HBO Max amid racism protests

TCM host and film scholar Jacqueline Stewart says in the introduction that the film “presents the antebellum South as a world of grace and beauty without acknowledging the brutality of chattel slavery upon which this world was based.” 

She said ‘Gone with the Wind’ is a film of undeniable cultural significance even eighty years after its initial release.

“It is not only a major document of Hollywood’s racist practices of the past but also an enduring work of popular culture that speaks directly to the racial inequalities that persist in media and society today,” Stewart added.

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The film won eight Academy Awards, including best picture, and set a milestone when supporting actress Hattie McDaniel, who became the first African-American actor to win an Oscar.

Stewart also noted that during the Oscar ceremony McDaniel had to sit at a table far apart from her white cast members because of racial protocols at the time.