"Gone with the Wind" is available again on HBO Max

The disappearance of Gone with the Wind from the HBO Max streaming platform was short lived. A week after its withdrawal - which raised a lively controversy - the 1939 feature film is back with a historical presentation of the time by the academic Jacqueline Stewart.

'Gone With the Wind' returning to HBO Max with introduction of 'historical context' by Black scholar Jacqueline Stewart https://t.co/nScZsbLgeQ

“I will offer an introduction to put the film back in its multiple historical contexts. For me, this is an opportunity to reflect on what the classics can teach us. (…) The film romances slavery as a benign and benevolent institution. Gone with the Wind , which is still the most profitable film in history, has a profound impact on the way the public sees the pre-war south and the period of reconstruction that followed the Civil War. ” , explains the one who teaches the history of cinema at the University of Chicago, as relayed by USA Today.

Educate

Jacqueline Stewart adds that, following the death of George Floyd and the anti-racism protests, "people are turning to movies to re-educate themselves on race issues and the best-selling books on Amazon are about equality and the fight against racism. If people do their homework, we will be ready to have the most informed, honest and productive dialogue to date on the lives of black people on and off the screen. ”

Adapted from Margaret Mitchell's book Gone with the Wind depicts the love story between Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) against the backdrop of the Civil War and won eight Oscars. Hattie McDaniel, who plays Mamma, Scarlett O'Hara's slave, won the Oscar for best supporting actress, becoming the first black actress to be awarded the Academy.

Hattie McDaniel, the first Black actor to win an Oscar, was #BornOnThisDay 125 years ago. pic.twitter.com/U8toyvO8ii

She attended the ceremony at a table other than that of the casting, "distant and against the wall", as recalled by the Hollywood Reporter. It was not accepted at the Ambassador Hotel, which refused black people in its precincts, only after the intervention of the film's producer, David O. Selznick. Died in 1952, the actress had asked in her will to be buried in the Hollywood Cemetery (current Hollywood Forever), which was not accepted, the cemetery refusing black people. Hattie McDaniel was buried at the Angelus-Rosedale Cemetary in Los Angeles. It was not until 1999 that a stele at Hollywood Forever was installed in his memory.

Cinema

Paris: Le Grand Rex cinema cancels a screening of the film “Gone with the Wind”

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