The removal of the 1939 film "Gone with the Wind" from HBO Max sent conservatives and movie fans into a frenzy when it happened last week, but it won't be long before the iconic Oscar-winner returns to the fledgling streaming service.
According to Jacqueline Stewart, a University of Chicago professor and host on Turner Classic Movies, HBO intends to bring the film back "with additional historical context."
Writing for CNN, Stewart explained that the widely beloved film "romanticizes slavery as a benign and benevolent institution," which influenced mainstream audiences and led many to view the antebellum South in an inaccurate, almost mythical way that ignored the horrors of slavery.
When HBO took the film from its service in the midst of national Black Lives Matter protests, the company said that it believed making it available to the public without explanation would be "irresponsible." Stewart says that she will play a role in that explanation when the movie returns.
"I will provide an introduction placing the film in its multiple historical contexts," she wrote.
Stewart also noted that many Americans have been turning to books and movies about racial inequality in order to better understand this current moment, and she believes "Gone with the Wind" is an opportunity to use a classic film as a tool for education.
"If people are really doing their homework, we may be poised to have our most informed, honest and productive national conversations yet about black lives on screen and off," she wrote.
