Posted in: Movies | Tagged: gone with the wind, Hattie McDaniel, HRL

Memphis Theater Cancels Gone With The Wind Screenings For Insensitivity

The Orpheum Theater in Memphis, Tennessee has canceled all planned screenings of Gone With The Wind in the wake of the white supremacist rally that ended in violence and death in Charlottesville and the subsequent debate over Confederate romanticism.

The Orpheum issued a statement about their decision, printed on Entertainment Weekly:

"While title selections for the series are typically made in the spring of each year, the Orpheum has made this determination early in response to specific inquiries from patrons. The Orpheum appreciates feedback on its programming from all members of the mid-south community. The recent screening of Gone With the Wind at the Orpheum on Friday, August 11, 2017, generated numerous comments. The Orpheum carefully reviewed all of them.

As an organization whose stated mission is to 'entertain, educate and enlighten the communities it serves,' the Orpheum cannot show a film that is insensitive to a large segment of its local population."

Gone With The Wind has long been regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, with eight academy awards (and two honorary ones) as well as, adjusted for inflation, the highest box office take of all time. One of those academy awards went to Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to ever win one. However, the film takes place on a Southern plantation during the Civil War, and has been criticized for glorifying slavery as one of the most prominent vehicles of the Lost Cause mythology.

The Orpheum hasn't said whether the decision to stop showing the movie is temporary, while tensions are high, or permanent.

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