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    HBO Max removes “Gone With the Wind,” will add context

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1099 Views
    In this Dec. 19, 1939 file photo, a crowd gathers outside the Astor Theater on Broadway during the premiere of "Gone With the Wind" in New York. HBO Max has temporarily removed “Gone With the Wind” from its streaming library in order to add historical context to the 1939 film long criticized for romanticizing slavery and the Civil War-era South. (AP Photo)

    By Jake Coyle, Film Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    HBO Max has temporarily removed "Gone With the Wind" from its streaming library in order to add historical context to the 1939 film long criticized for romanticizing slavery and the Civil War-era South. 

    Protests in the wake of George Floyd's death have forced entertainment companies to grapple with the appropriateness of both current and past productions. On Tuesday, the Paramount Network dropped the long-running reality series "Cops" after 33 seasons. The BBC also removed episodes of "Little Britain," a comedy series that featured a character in blackface, from its streaming service. 

    In an op-ed Monday in the Los Angeles Times, the filmmaker John Ridley urged WarnerMedia to take down "Gone With the Wind," arguing that it "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."

    In a statement, the AT&T-owned WarnerMedia, which owns HBO Max, called "Gone With the Wind" "a product of its time" that depicts racial prejudices. 

    "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," said an HBO Max spokesman in a statement. 

    The company said that when "Gone With the Wind" returns to the recently launched streaming service, it will include "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."

    Based on a 1936 book by Margaret Mitchell, "Gone With the Wind" is a historical epic about a romance between Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), the daughter of a Georgia plantation owner, and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), a gambler who joins the Confederacy. 

    "Gone With the Wind" has long been denounced for featuring slave characters who remain loyal to their former owners after the abolition of slavery. It remains the highest-grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation. It won eight Academy Awards including best picture and best supporting actress for Hattie McDaniel, the first black actress to be nominated or win an Oscar.

    Tags:George FloydGone With the WindHBO Max



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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