Should we ban GONE WITH THE WIND? (1 Viewer)

[atfree]

The point is that the government isn't forcing them to do anything.


The whole point of a boycott is to get a company to cave in on an issue, right?

But no one is boycotting anything (yet)....the companies are basically doing these things pre-emptively. Was anyone threatening to boycott Apple because they had Civil War games? No, it's just this f****** PC world where everyone is offended by something and wants whatever they are offended by to be removed from EVERYONE'S sight.


Absolutely sickening that the US has come to this.

 

[atfree]

GWTW is now the top-selling movie on Amazon....

http://nypost.com/2015/06/26/fear-of-ban-sparks-run-on-gone-with-the-wind/

 

[TravisR]

Was anyone threatening to boycott Apple because they had Civil War games?

That is probably the goofiest thing I've seen relating to this. It's cool to exploit a war that killed hundreds of thousands of people by making it into a game but being historically accurate is too fucked up?

 

[Joel Arndt]

GWTW is now the top-selling movie on Amazon....

http://nypost.com/2015/06/26/fear-of-ban-sparks-run-on-gone-with-the-wind/

No surprise. This has been great publicity for GWTW. Nothing sells better than controversy. Did someone in Warner's marketing dept. seize on this opportunity to move more units?

 

[Sam Posten]

And Lumenick continues his backpedalling saying he never called for bans blah blah blah I'm so misunderstood.

 

[Rob_Ray]

He *was* misunderstood. But he's wrong about the movie glorifying the Noble Cause. It doesn't. The characters within the story do. Big difference which anyone with an open mind should be able to discern. It's only sin is perpetuating the racial attitudes of the 1930s, while attempting to accurately depict the racial attitudes of the 1860s.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

No surprise. This has been great publicity for GWTW. Did someone in Warner's marketing dept. seize on this opportunity to move more units?

Hey, I bet they're getting one hell of a bump in the sales of Dukes of Hazzard stuff this week, too.


And it's going to sound stupid, but that''s my only problem with this latest overreaction. Flags off of government buildings? Fine. IMO, it was stupid to have them there in the first place. Amazon, ebay, and Wal-Mart don't want to sell them? Fine. The free market has spoken, though I think it's kind of a stupid overreaction, especially since Wal-Mart is still selling guns, which were the real cause of this mess, not the flags. However, people can still get the flags elsewhere, so it's not like there's a ban on them. But then we get to WB pulling licensing of the General Lee, and suddenly I'm pissed off. The GWTW debate was just icing on that cake.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

No surprise. This has been great publicity for GWTW. Nothing sells better than controversy. Did someone in Warner's marketing dept. seize on this opportunity to move more units?

I think Warner's needs to release a new edition -- The Super Deluxe Banned Edition! After all, it must be at least a year since they re-released GWTW, so it's overdue.

 

[Virgoan]

I believe anyone wanting "Song of the South" should be able to buy it. Yes, the NAACP protested its images of happy blacks in post-Civil War south, but that doesn't mean it's unrealistic or that people who love it should be prevented from viewing it in the privacy of their own homes.


No one, to my knowledge, has ever protested the "When I See an Elephant Fly" number from "Dumbo".


And "Holiday Inn" has an entire number done in black face. Never seen any protests there. Ditto one of the Mickey-Judy musicals.


There is a lot of confusion of what seems to offend people. I say make these films available to those who are not offended. Those who are can refuse to buy them.

 

[Joel Arndt]

I think Warner's needs to release a new edition -- The Super Deluxe Banned Edition! After all, it must be at least a year since they re-released GWTW, so it's overdue.

Scott, it's been less time than that. GWTW was re-released earlier this month as part of Warner's 1939 blu-ray package, so it's way, way, way overdue.

 

[Radioman970]

I remember hearing the satellite early morning DJ just before I'd go on to play oldies 15+ years ago come on and make a comment about TV Land running a All in the Family 'thon (which I hugely enjoyed and recorded even) and he said he thought the show should be retired. He was a black guy, but it still seemed so out of the blue, like trying to filll his 23 seconds he had with THAT ridiculous thing! I was wishing I could ask about Sanford and Son, just because he didn't mention it but with his way of thinking he should have! It's his logic.. . 2 of my most fav shows of all time that have earned their place on the air! He on the other hand I only remember for that one stupid comment! :p



And they can ban Gone with the Wind after they release the definitive blu ray set and give us time to bu yit!!!

 

[Radioman970]

Hey, I bet they're getting one hell of a bump in the sales of Dukes of Hazzard stuff this week, too.


..

I finished it out by buying Season 7 this week. And I have my eye on that cartoon set too! that would finish me out.


The "Cooter" actor has 2 store, one in Tenn and one in Virginia, 50% of it I think he said has the evil flag image on it! Really goes to show you, taking the flag off gov buildings or other places, a good idea, removing all traces of it (even a completely inoffensive TV show like Dukes) is something else entirely!!!

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

He *was* misunderstood. But he's wrong about the movie glorifying the Noble Cause. It doesn't. The characters within the story do. Big difference which anyone with an open mind should be able to discern. It's only sin is perpetuating the racial attitudes of the 1930s, while attempting to accurately depict the racial attitudes of the 1860s.

Ashley makes a speech where he says after a war is over nobody remembers what it was all about. Hardly a glorification of the "noble cause".


And so is Rhett's cynical attitude about the entire thing. He tells the gathered war hawks that they are nuts expecting an easy win over the well-equipped North, and is expelled for saying that.


Rhett also says he considers Mammy the most honorable person he knows.


Films of that time had attitudes which are often glossed over. In The Philadelphia Story, Hepburn comments on the south parlor that she was "expecting piccaninnies and banjos". In Casablanca, Ilsa refers to Sam as the "BOY who's playing the piano".

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Hmm maybe it's time to buy that Dukes of Hazzard dvd box set before it's gone with the wind.


Warner Bros. Bans 'Dukes of Hazzard' Car With Confederate Flag

Dukes of Hazzard a.jpg

That picture is so fake! The doors are open!

 

[Steve_Pannell]

Hey, I bet they're getting one hell of a bump in the sales of Dukes of Hazzard stuff this week, too.


And it's going to sound stupid, but that''s my only problem with this latest overreaction. Flags off of government buildings? Fine. IMO, it was stupid to have them there in the first place. Amazon, ebay, and Wal-Mart don't want to sell them? Fine. The free market has spoken, though I think it's kind of a stupid overreaction, especially since Wal-Mart is still selling guns, which were the real cause of this mess, not the flags. However, people can still get the flags elsewhere, so it's not like there's a ban on them. But then we get to WB pulling licensing of the General Lee, and suddenly I'm pissed off. The GWTW debate was just icing on that cake.

No, a deranged douchebag was the real cause of this mess.

 

[Dave Upton]

Guys - just a gentle reminder. Gun policy discussion is not a direction we will tolerate this thread going in. Please steer back on track.


Thanks

 

[The Obsolete Man]

No, a deranged douchebag was the real cause of this mess.

I knew someone was going to get me for that line. And you are correct. And we can leave it at that.

 

[marsnkc]

If they were showing it 24/7 against the side of all Georgia state public buildings, there might be a comparison to be made.

Not to be frivolous (and I agree with everything John says in his full post) but a friend of mine would be only too happy for this. Growing up in Eastern Europe, she's been obsessed with GWTW since first seeing it there as a child. I made her a gift of that big 70th anniversary box set and her affecting response was, "It's so beautiful I'm afraid to open it".

But displaying a mural based on Birth of a Nation imagery on a wall in a state government building would be another matter, which I think would be a much closer analog to the flag issue.

It sure would. I hope this doesn't cross the line here (and I have two DVD editions of the seminal masterpiece and intend to purchase the BD) but Birth of a Nation does get close to the knuckle. Art (and I mean works with 'redeeming social value', not dreck) should be viewed in context, but so should antagonistic attitudes towards it (assuming there's a political element to it). However, rather than condemning it to the archives, it should be (and is as far as I'm aware), used as a teaching/learning tool in the same way that Triumph of the Will is.

(BTW, Amazon is out of stock on this also).

 

[DaveF]

And Lumenick continues his backpedalling saying he never called for bans blah blah blah I'm so misunderstood.

Show me where the editorial says anything about anyone banning anything.


Maybe it's supposed to be a 'dog whistle', communicating things to true believers without actually saying them. But I skew literalist on first reading to understand meaning. And the essay says little, with no particular call to action.

 

[ljgranberry]

If so, what do we ban after GWTW. Problem with this screwy thinking, is there's no end in sight to what will be banned next.