HBO Max has removed the classic film Gone With the Wind from its movie library following a number of calls to do so, in light of the ongoing global protests for racial equality.
ScreenRant first reported the news, and a search of the HBO Max archives confirms that the movie is no longer available to stream. The film, released in 1939, won ten Oscars and became one of the top-earning movies of all time, and was prominently featured in HBO Max’s initial advertising push. But its romantic depiction of Civil War-era America and whitewashing of slavery is seen as problematic by many modern-day viewers, especially in light of the current social unrest regarding racism and police violence. (HBO Max has not officially commented on the reasoning behind the move.)
Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) called for Gone With the Wind to be removed from HBO Max for the time being in a Los Angeles Times op-ed published this week, calling it “a film that, when it is not ignoring the horrors of slavery, pauses only to perpetuate some of the most painful stereotypes of people of color.” Others joined Ridley online in asking that the movie be shelved.
HBO Max is not the only network changing its programming in light of the public outcry surrounding the protests: Paramount Network officially cancelled the police docuseries Cops after a more than three-decade run, and A&E Network has pulled new episodes of Live PD. HBO Max has also removed all guns from its new Looney Tunes Cartoons series, apparently in response to U.S. gun violence.
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