Off Topic The Politics Thread

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Should the UK remain a part of the EU or leave?

  • Stay in

    Votes: 56 47.9%

  • Get out

    Votes: 61 52.1%
  • Total voters
    117
  • Poll closed .
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Reactions: kiwiqpr, Saints_Alive, Staines R's and 1 other person
kiwiqpr said:
never seen it all the way through but removing it seems a bit silly

HBO Max Removes Civil War Epic 'Gone With the Wind'
8:17 PM PDT 6/9/2020 by Abid Rahman

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MGM/Photofest
'Gone With The Wind'

The 1939 film has long been considered controversial for its depiction of Black people and its positive view of slavery.
Gone With the Wind, the Civil War epic considered a classic of American cinema, has been temporarily pulled from HBO Max.

The move comes as media companies reappraise content in light of nationwide protests over police brutality and systemic racism after the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by Minnesota police. Earlier on Tuesday, Paramount Network cancelled the long-running police reality show Cops.

Long considered controversial for its depiction of Black people and its positive view of slavery, Gone With the Wind faced renewed scrutiny after an op-ed by 12 Years A Slave screenwriter John Ridley published in the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. In the op-ed, Ridley called on HBO Max to "consider removing" Gone With the Wind from its platform as the film had its "own unique problem." "It doesn’t just “fall short” with regard to representation. It is a film that glorifies the antebellum south. It is 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," Ridley wrote.

He added: "It is a film that, as part of the narrative of the “Lost Cause,” romanticizes the Confederacy in a way that continues to give legitimacy to the notion that the secessionist movement was something more, or better, or more noble than what it was — a bloody insurrection to maintain the “right” to own, sell and buy human beings."

HBO Max said Gone With the Wind will eventually return to the service with a "discussion of its historical context and a denouncement of those very depictions" of Black people and slavery.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, a HBO spokesperson said: “Gone With The Wind is a product of its time and depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society. These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today, and we felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible. These depictions are certainly counter to WarnerMedia’s values, so when we return the film to HBO Max, it will return 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.”

Released in 1939, the 4-hour long Gone With the Wind told the love story of southern aristocrats Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler and starred Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Hattie McDaniel and Olivia de Havilland. The film, based on the 1936 best-selling book by Margaret Mitchell, takes place in the American South, on a plantation outside Atlanta in the aftermath of the Civil War. Both the book and film feature Black characters who are former slaves who seem content and loyal to their former owners even after the abolition of slavery in the South.

Directed by Victor Fleming it would go on to become one of the highest grossing films in history and win eight Oscars at the 12th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for McDaniel for her portrayal of Mammy, a house servant on the Tara plantation.

The Oscar for McDaniel made her the first Black person to win the award but due to racial segregation at the ceremony she sat separately from her Gone With the Wind co-stars, sitting at a table at the back of the room.
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It's spreading throughout every facet of the arts as well. I had someone leave a book in my car a few years ago by Ernest Hemingway, as it wasn't claimed I decided to read it and it was a 1930s story in which the lead role was narrating and it was smattered with the 'N' word which, at that time, was pretty standard in the American vocabulary. Yes, it's unacceptable now but in it's historical context it was of it's era and I think if you look to ban, edit or censor such works you are losing the accuracy of that era.

Equally if you read some of H.G. Wells's books some of the language of the Victorian era and it's derogatory descriptions of some classes or nationalities is very un-pc by today's standards but of it's era. So where do you stop?...
 
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The main difference is that it was an unruly small minority of extremists that attached themselves to a protest with a worthy message. The extreme right wing thugs are racist, sexist, misogynistic and would use violence if they could as they do at football grounds.
I want to live in a World where race isn't an issue any longer and all citizens are treated equally, the right wing thugs never want to see that.

I absolutely condemn the defacing of War memorials and violence against the police but I really couldn't give a **** about a statue celebrating a man who made his wealth from a shameful part of our great country's history.
 
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Ant and Dec sorry for impersonating people of colour

16 years ago

who is trawling itvs back catalouge
theres an episode of the professionals where bodies rude to a blackman
wait till they get as far back as alf garnett
 
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Quite Possibly Raving said:
If we're judging causes by the lowest common denominator of their supporters, I'll put these two forward for Brexit:

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Or, just a thought, we could consider the merits of the ideas being debated instead of knocking down straw men?
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Or, just a thought, we could consider the bandwagon we are joining ………..instead of knocking down statues?
at least know what the issue is with the statues before you tag along for a laugh cos you got nothing better to do
 
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kiwiqpr said:
Ant and Dec sorry for impersonating people of colour

16 years ago

who is trawling itvs back catalouge
theres an episode of the professionals where bodies rude to a blackman
wait till they get as far back as alf garnett
Click to expand...
Maybe I should apologise as well. A few years ago I watched the film Zulu and wanted Michael Caine and the British soldiers to win. I am sorry. Maybe they should remake the film and the British should lose?
 
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I remember a while back some were saying that all these companies would leave due to Brexit?
I also remember being mocked for my comments at the time? :emoticon-0127-lipss
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