This will further fuel the chronicle. To celebrate with great fanfare the reopening of dark rooms on June 22, the Grand Rex had chosen to screen several major films. On the program from June 23, "Gone with the Wind", the classic at the eight Oscars with Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. But now, this Friday, the legendary Parisian hall announced on its Ttwitter account the outright cancellation of the session. “Hello, The Warner Bros. tells us that it wishes to cancel the screening of ' Gone with the Wind '. Thank you for your understanding. The Grand Rex team ”, can we read on this laconic message.
Hello,
Warner Bros. tells us that it wants to cancel the screening of "Gone with the Wind".
Thank you for your understanding.
The Grand Rex team. pic.twitter.com/JbZaUYFcmS
This is a request from Warner Bros, the studio that owns the rights to use the film, and not a Grand Rex decision. When contacted, Warner had not responded to our requests at the time of writing.
Here is a new episode in a controversy that started a few days ago. The removal of "Gone with the Wind" from the HBO Max streaming platform started the fire. The film will be available again accompanied by a contextual presentation of the film in the near future, but the debate is fueling social networks and TV platforms.
A romantic vision of the segregationist South
The river feature film (3:58) released in 1939 is considered by many academics to be the most ambitious and effective instrument of Southern revisionism. He notably presents a romantic version of the South and a very watered-down vision of slavery, with in particular domestic staff depicted as satisfied with their lot and treated as ordinary employees. This reinterpretation of a dark period in American history is the work of highly organized movements in the former Confederate States, which set out to present the South before the American Civil War in a presentable light.
Fundamentally, the ideology of the "Lost Cause" maintained that the Southern States had fought for their political independence, threatened by the North, and not for the maintenance of slavery, which is a historical untruth. If in gross figures, "Avengers: Endgame", is the film which brought in the most revenues in cinema history, with 2.8 billion dollars, "Gone With the Wind", its American title, remains in the lead after taking inflation into account, with $ 3.44 billion.
In the context of "Justice For George Floyd" in the United States, the multi-Oscar winning film therefore becomes a source of controversy. Ironically, “Gone with the Wind” is so talked about that it is currently leading the sales of films on the Amazon sales site.