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鈥楪one with the Wind鈥 goes off stream on HBO

鈥淕one with the Wind鈥 has been removed from the HBO Max streaming platform, as mass protests against racism and police brutality prompt television networks to reassess their offerings.

The multiple Oscar-winning US Civil War epic released in 1939 remains the highest-grossing movie of all time adjusted for inflation, but its depiction of contented slaves and heroic slaveholders has garnered criticism.

鈥溾楪one With The Wind鈥 is a product of its time and depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society,鈥 an HBO Max spokesperson said.

鈥淭hese 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.鈥

Demonstrations have swept the United States since the May 25 killing of African American George Floyd while in police custody, with calls growing for police reform and the broader removal of symbols of a racist legacy, including monuments to the slave-holding Confederacy.

Floyd died last month as a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee into his neck for almost nine minutes. The officer has been charged with second-degree murder.

Writer of 鈥12 Years A Slave鈥 John Ridley said in a Los Angeles Times op-ed on Monday that 鈥淕one with the Wind鈥 must be removed as it 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 just 鈥榝all short鈥 with regard to representation鈥 but ignores the horrors of slavery and perpetuates 鈥渟ome of the most painful stereotypes of people of color.鈥

The film will return to the recently launched streaming platform at a later date, along with a discussion of its historical context, HBO said.

No edits will be made, 鈥渂ecause to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed.鈥

鈥淚f we are to create a more just, equitable and inclusive future, we must first acknowledge and understand our history.鈥

Meanwhile, long-running reality series 鈥淐ops鈥 was canceled by Paramount Network.

The show followed real-life US officers on duty for over three decades, but had been accused of glamorizing aspects of policing and distorting issues such as race.

鈥溾楥ops鈥 is not on the Paramount Network and we don鈥檛 have any current or future plans for it to return,鈥 a network spokesperson told US media on Tuesday.

Police shows 鈥 both reality and scripted 鈥 are among the most-watched on US television but have come under scrutiny.

Civil rights group Color of Change, which campaigned against the show for its depiction of suspects and alleged masking of racism in police forces, welcomed the news on Tuesday.

鈥淔or 30 years, #COPS has normalized injustice and misrepresented crime, policing and race,鈥 tweeted president Rashad Robinson.

鈥淏ut it鈥檚 far from the only crime TV show to do so.鈥

Dan Taberski, whose podcast 鈥淩unning from Cops鈥 claimed the show allowed police to remove unflattering material during editing, said he was 鈥渉opeful its cancellation 31 years later is a sign of positive change to come.鈥

Popular reality cop show 鈥淟ive PD鈥 has also been removed from schedules, while Jessica Alba-starring scripted procedural 鈥淟A鈥檚 Finest鈥 saw its season premiere delayed on Monday.


 

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