Gone With the Wind-Fame, History, and Criticism
Published in 1936, Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind is one of the best-selling novels of all time. The story takes place during the Civil War and into the Reconstruction era and quickly gained popularity. Within a year after being published, a movie was already in the works.
The film Gone With the Wind was released in 1939 and became an instant sensation. To do this day, Gone With the Wind is the highest-grossing film of all time after adjusting for inflation earning $3,706,000,000. The film earned ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture in 1940. It was the first movie in color to win Best Picture.
However, winning Best Picture was not the most notable award for this film. Actress Hattie McDaniel made history in Hollywood, winning Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in Gone With the Wind. She became the first African American to win an Academy Award. Before being recognized and rewarded for her performance, McDaniel was unable to attend the premiere of the film. The premiere for Gone With the Wind was on December 15, 1939, at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, but because of her race, McDaniel was not allowed to go into the theatre to see the premiere. Clark Gable, who played the role of Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind, threatened to boycott the premiere and not attend unless McDaniel was allowed to go. McDaniel, however, convinced Butler to go to the premiere anyway. While she was unable to go to the Atlanta premiere because of Jim Crow laws, McDaniel attended the Hollywood debut on December 28, 1939, and later went on to win an Academy Award.
While the film remains widely popular and viewed as one of the greatest movies of all time, it has still received criticism. The story itself has been often criticized by many for its whitewashed depiction of slavery, especially given the time in which it takes place. Upon being first released, many black people believed that Gone With the Wind celebrated the slave system and depicted stereotypical roles for its black characters.
Today, the racist aspects of the film are very noticeable and have caused many people to argue about the film. Many people believe Gone With the Wind presents the Confederacy in a glorified way as if it were nobler than it was. HBO recently removed the film from its service, but will eventually add it back at a later date. The company stated that “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”. In other words, they believe it holds an important part of history that can not be ignored.
Despite the criticism, Gone With the Wind still remains as a classic film and is enjoyed by its fans. It is truly among one of the many films that made history in Hollywood.
