‘Gone With the Wind’ Tops Amazon Charts
By George Robbins
While most of us are stuck at home, we have had very little to do with most forms of entertainment shut down for us. That has made it easier for companies with VOD, or Video On Demand, capabilities to sell their wares to people online who are looking for something to do. Recently, HBO Max was launched which is HBO’s premium streaming service with thousands of hours worth of content on it. This content varies wildly from newer movies that have left theaters within the past year to older classic movies that can date all the way back to the time when movies like ‘Gone With the Wind’ were initially released. However, there was a petition recently in the wake of the death of George Floyd that called for the removal of the movie from the service and it succeeded.
As a result of the film being taken off the service and the coverage that the removal received, many people went and watched the film on Amazon. ‘Gone With the Wind‘ is a film based on a novel of the same name that shows the life of a young woman as she grows up in the South during and after the Civil War. Many people took up arms with the film due to the portrayal of the racist themes and plot elements present throughout the film. As such, the film ended up being removed from HBO Max since the film itself is considered by those who wished it to be removed as offensive. There is no doubt that it isn’t offensive, but the film has been recognized as being culturally significant.
The petition to take it down off of the HBO Max service brought plenty of attention to the movie and in order to see just what it was people were upset about, the film ended up jumping up the Best Sellers chart. There is nothing that says that the movie isn’t offensive, but removing the film for that reason is the same as saying that those prejudices never existed. This was the statement made by HBO recently when they said they would be returning the film to the service. It is a statement that will be implanted into the film to make sure people understand that it is a part of our history, and even though many may not like it, it happened and it is something we should try to avoid doing in the future. The existence of this film is one of many portrayals of social issues of the time and shouldn’t be ignored, but should be paid attention to.