HBO temporarily pulls Gone with the Wind from streaming

Cordell

Sad Professor wrote: »

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hbo-max-pulls-gone-with-the-wind-11591754904

Thoughts?

BS tokenism public image stunts, all of them. Anything but real action for solving real problems in the black communities, because now it's not the time to acknowledge those problems. Because, you know, if they look too much at those problems they may reach some forbidden conclusions.

Bold Abdu

Little Britain pulled from Netflix
Cops cancelled (just noticed that mentioned in last link)
Elmer Fudd to lose his gun

Darksoul

WengerOutIn wrote: »

Gladiator has slaves. Spartacus needs to go. We need to remove anything built by the Romans and Greeks. There is a pretty big list that needs sorting before we can put this matter to rest. Also, I am sure that a lot of Muslim architecture pre 1850 should be investigated for the use of slavery too. All slaves matter.

That's my favourite film of all time ,aren't they supposed to be making another film based on this film soon?

is_that_so

Cordell wrote: »

BS tokenism public image stunts, all of them. Anything but real action for solving real problems in the black communities, because now it's not the time to acknowledge those problems. Because, you know, if they look too much at those problems they may reach some forbidden conclusions.

In the context of media companies it's always PR, money and not making themselves a target.

Harry Palmr

joeguevara wrote: »

To Kill a Mocking Bird and Of Mice and Men are just two examples of literary masterpieces that have been removed from the curriculum and indeed banned in many US States. Absolutely deplorable and with no merit or value.

Southern states have also sought to pull Origin of Species as that's the kind of people they are.

Southern states have a long history of trying to and sometimes actually banning fiction and fact (see above) as they manage to be on the one hand offended by themes they decry as "filth" but on the other concern about racial language and depictions of black people - it just depends which school board/county/state you are in and when as censorship is constantly moving target.

No doubt this is informed in large part by the fact in the south they live with the legacy of Jim Crow laws and the KKK so some of the bans are almost certainly a "well meaning" attempt to reject both through cultural censorship. Wrong but somewhat understandable.

Harry Palmr

Bold Abdu wrote: »

Little Britain pulled from Netflix
Cops cancelled (just noticed that mentioned in last link)
Elmer Fudd to lose his gun

Little Britain pulled universally by the BBC themselves.

ASOT

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Little Britain pulled universally by the BBC themselves.

And Come Fly With Me.

The world's gone mad.

The Raging Bile Duct

ASOT wrote: »

And Come Fly With Me.

The world's gone made.

It's made altogether...

ASOT

ASOT wrote: »

And Come Fly With Me.

The world's gone made.

And we have the BBC in particular putting anachronistic black actors into period roles. It's PC gone made.

Harry Palmr

Stuff gets banned all the time of course it's just that it happens by omission - you'll be waiting a long time to see Curry and Chips or Love Thy Neighbour again.

CastorTroy

jprender wrote: »

The pyramids need tearing down also.

There’s gonna be loads of work going.

Why? What did the aliens that built them do?

When will they start pulling movies and series with Oirish accents?

Sad Professor

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

If we were seeing censorship on a state level then there would be grounds for concern. This isn't what is happening at all.

You can still buy your Gone with the Wind Blu Rays or Little Britain and Come Fly with Me DVDs if that's your preference...

Yes, it's not the state doing the censoring, it's the corporations/owners of the material, which is why many liberals are fine with it. However I am not so sure that a massive corporation self-censoring it's own content is less grounds for concern, especially if that corporation owns most of the content and many of the channels for distributing it.

Dades

Rockbeast2 wrote: »

Make it a Diet Coke. With ice and a straw.:)

WOW

So you support the objectification of men as per those Diet Coke ads?

You monster.

Ninthlife

CastorTroy wrote: »

Why? What did the aliens that built them do?

When will they start pulling movies and series with Oirish accents?

They were illegal aliens

The Raging Bile Duct

Sad Professor wrote: »

Yes, it's not the state doing the censoring, it's the corporations/owners of the material, which is why many liberals are fine with it. However I am not so sure that a massive corporation self-censoring it's own content is less grounds for concern, especially if that corporation owns most of the content and many of the channels for distributing it.

You can still buy it on DVD or BluRay, stream on Now TV or Sky Go or buy and rent it on Google Play, Apple TV, Microsoft or Rakuten TV. You're hardly starved of options for watching Gone with the Wind if you so desire...

johnny_ultimate

Yeah I can watch Gone With The Wind right now, legally, with zero hassle whatsoever. The film isn't being suppressed by Warner Bros.

As I said, I don't think there's any benefit to temporarily removing the film from a single streaming service even if I have no problem whatsoever with some contextual notes being added before/after the film (that's standard practice for many classic film re-releases). The worst thing about this particular case is that it's feeding incorrect and exaggerated narratives - you don't need to look beyond this thread to see how 'temporarily removed from streaming service' becomes 'banned'. A quick search of 'Gone With The Wind' on Twitter shows how various bad-faith actors have quickly seized on this to further the culture war in tedious, manipulative ways.

To be clear: I think all films should be readily available for the historical record, whether that's Triumph of the Will or Song of the South. I feel corporations 'hiding' any films from the public is a problem, even if I have no problem with them not releasing them in the traditional commercial sense (Song of the South as a YouTube or Archive.org stream/download would be perfectly acceptable, as opposed to in the midst of the Disney+ feed). That said, assuming Gone With The Wind returns to HBO Max fairly promptly, this particular case doesn't seem particularly grievous or ominous to me. Pulling it from one service while it's still readily available elsewhere is just silly, more than anything.

The Raging Bile Duct

I hate to use the phrase but it really is just a classic case of virtue signalling on the part of HBO, especially if it's only a temporary measure.

CastorTroy

Have never seen the film. Was going to watch it one day but it was on right after I finished Ben-Hur for the first time so decided not to watch another epic.
But I do know it's to blame for the downfall of society by influencing people to say "damn"

joe40

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Read the whole article!

"When the movie returns to the platform it will be “with a discussion of its historical context and a denouncement of those very depictions,

but will be presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed.

If we are to create a more just, equitable and inclusive future, we must first acknowledge and understand our history.”

Nothing is being removed. Something is being added.

See that's the problem, reading the whole article is time consuming.

It is much easier to read the headline and then extrapolate to ridiculous suggestions that have no relevance whatsoever.

Keeps the permanently outraged happy I suppose. Lets invent problems and then rail against them.

The Raging Bile Duct

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

To be clear: I think all films should be readily available for the historical record, whether that's Triumph of the Will or Song of the South. I feel corporations 'hiding' any films from the public is a problem, even if I have no problem with them not releasing them in the traditional commercial sense (Song of the South as a YouTube or Archive.org stream/download would be perfectly acceptable, as opposed to in the midst of the Disney+ feed). That said, assuming Gone With The Wind returns to HBO Max fairly promptly, this particular case doesn't seem particularly grievous or ominous to me. Pulling it from one service while it's still readily available elsewhere is just silly, more than anything.

We use to have a VHS of Song of the South back when I was a young lad. Use to love it purely for Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah. Can't remember anything else about it tbh. Any of the racist themes in it must have gone completely over my head because the film left absolutely no impression on me beyond the song.

I'm pretty sure you can pick up the Leni Riefenstahl films easily enough.

johnny_ultimate

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

We use to have a VHS of Song of the South back when I was a young lad. Use to love it purely for Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah. Can't remember anything else about it tbh. Any of the racist themes in it must have gone completely over my head because the film left absolutely no impression on me beyond the song.

I'm pretty sure you can pick up the Leni Riefenstahl films easily enough.

Sorry, no intention of implying Riefenstahl’s films aren’t readily available - more just cited as an example of a ‘distasteful’ film that’s nonetheless an historical and cinematic record of huge value.

I’m the same as you with Song of the South - definitely had a copy of it as a kid, didn’t realise how controversial it was until more recent times. Disney’s relationship with it is bizarre - there’s still a prominent theme park ride based on it and Zip-a-dee-doo-dah is an iconic part of the company’s songbook... yet the film itself has been buried for years. Think it was more readily available in Europe than the US during the VHS era.

pixelburp

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

I hate to use the phrase but it really is just a classic case of virtue signalling on the part of HBO, especially if it's only a temporary measure.

Of course it is: on a similar point, worth pointing out that it's Pride Month. What used to be a joyous expression of love & togetherness by communities of people has been coopted by Corporations. Commercialised to the Nth degree. Pride branded products, sites & media themed with rainbows ... except on the Russia and Middle-East outlets of course - their bravery to stand with people doesn't go that far. No no.

Nothing has been banned, nothing has been censored. As JU pointed out, Gone with the Wind is still available, it has only been temporarily been moved off a single streaming service for a time. But the Corporations aren't our friends, they never have been & Disney would remaster Triumph Of The Will if white supremecists became a viable demographic.

But no. Let's lose our minds and start acting like the Reichstag is burning. It's obvious most haven't actually read the article.

edit: actually; to be fair, that site's a subscription service - so most people CAN'T know the full context. Maybe the OP should be amended with a free link?

tastyt

Wake me up when it’s not a sin to be white anymore

pixelburp

tastyt wrote: »

Wake me up when it’s not a sin to be white anymore

Wake up then. Get a grip. It isn't.

ELM327

They'll have to cancel Tom and Jerry cartoons too. The matriach is the stereotypical southern black housekeeper.

Tchaikovsky

ELM327 wrote: »

They'll have to cancel Tom and Jerry cartoons too. The matriach is the stereotypical southern black housekeeper.

Looking back to my childhood, there was a whole heap of racist cartoons. I mean, blatantly racist, like Song of the South, with Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby.

The Raging Bile Duct

tastyt wrote: »

Wake me up when it’s not a sin to be white anymore

I've got to say, I've never felt like it was sinful for me to a white male but I suppose I don't suffer from a raging inferiority complex.

pixelburp

ELM327 wrote: »

They'll have to cancel Tom and Jerry cartoons too. The matriach is the stereotypical southern black housekeeper.

"Mammy Two Shoes" has been addressed for years now, often either re-animated or dubbed IIRC. Same with most cartoons of that era that used blackface, slitty eyes or smoking in their gags. Easy enough to revise, and I presume Tom & Jerry purists aren't that vocal or many.

ELM327

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

Looking back to my childhood, there was a whole heap of racist cartoons. I mean, blatantly racist, like Song of the South, with Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby.

Same.
Also people used sayings that you'd gasp at today as if they were nothing.
(Working like a n-word, Dirty Arab, saying "is my face black" if you were left out when a pot of tea was made) etc. As kids we grew up around this. My house was particularly republican with family members shot at and killed by the british so we were party to a lot of anti british slurs aswell.


Even father ted, with the blackface, the square piece of dirt (and other nazi references), and the chinese, wouldnt be made today, and that went over our heads as kids/teens.

bb12

PsychoPete wrote: »

Surely Volkswagen has to go aswell

and Ford...and Hugo Boss...and Fanta

oh and the Japanese did some pretty nasty things to their POWs so I guess all Japanese electronics, motors etc too

and while we're at it, China's horrendous human rights record...so stop all Chinese imports too