Gone With the Wind is a powerful, deeply felt film that provides some illuminating, if painful, insight into what life looked like on a Southern plantation during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods. That said, it’s probably the last thing anyone wants to see during a time when white nationalism is more or less being endorsed by our president.
After receiving “numerous comments” after an August 11th screening of the 1939 film, The Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee is removing it from a planned movie series next summer.
“While title selections for the series are typically made in the spring of each year, the Orpheum has made this determination early in response to specific inquiries from patrons,” read a statement from The Orpheum Theatre Group. “As an organization whose stated mission is to ‘entertain, educate and enlighten the communities it serves,’ the Orpheum cannot show a film that is insensitive to a large segment of its local population.”
A Facebook page event for the August screening has turned into a bastion of vehemence. Initially, patrons accused the film of being “racist” and a “tribute to white supremacy.” Since news of the cancellation hit the web, however, a flurry of posts began calling for a boycott of the theater. As is the case with pretty much everything these days, it’s all becoming depressingly political.
“This is CENSORSHIP in all it’s glory,” writes one patron. “This is the first step to communism.”
Gone With the Wind won eight Academy Awards, including one for Hattie McDaniel, making her the first African-American to win an Academy Award.
