“Gone With The Wind” Will Not Be Shown in Memphis

“Gone With The Wind” Will Not Be Shown in Memphis

“Gone With The Wind” Will Not Be Shown in Memphis

According to the Commercial Appeal, the Orpheum Theatre Group in Memphis, Tennessee has announced that they will no longer show the epic film “Gone With The Wind” in the Summer Concert Series. The film has been pronounced “racially insensitive”. The decision ends 34 years of this classic and commercially successful film being shown in Memphis.

The timeless movie poster for the film “Gone With The Wind”

From the Commercial Appeal article, a description of why the film is considered “racially insensitive”:

Unlike Rhett Butler, many people do give a damn.

And because they do have strong feelings about a film that depicts the slave state of the “Old South” as “a pretty world” where “Gallantry took its last bow,” the 1939 Hollywood epic “Gone With the Wind” will not screen during next year’s “Summer Movie Series” at the Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Memphis, theater officials announced Friday.

If those words look familiar, it’s because they are from the opening roll up titles. They are not from the book itself. These words were written by fantastic writer Ben Hecht. The full roll up title from the film reads:

“There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind…”

And, after that the music, composed by the genius Max Steiner, swells. If you have ever seen the movie “Gone with the Wind”, you can hear that music in your head right now.

Brett Batterson, head of the Orpheum Theatre Group

What kind of weaselly, jelly spined, mouth breather would make a decision like that? Ladies and Gentleman, I give you Mr. Brett Batterson and the following is his statement regarding “Gone with the Wind” at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, per the Commercial Appeal:

“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,” Brett Batterson, president of the Orpheum Theatre Group, said in a statement.

Hold on just a second, my brain just tried to run away after reading that statement. Nope. That is what the cosmically obtuse Mr. Batterson said. And, it’s right there in the Orpheum Theatre Group’s web page. F’reals. “Entertain. Educate. Enlighten.”

True fact. The Civil War was about the future of slavery. Sorry to the KKK and the “South Shall Rise Again” types, but it was about the future of slavery. It was about “States Rights”, too, but mainly the Civil War was about slavery. Slavery is a shameful institution that exists to the day in parts of the world. Dubai uses slave labor to build its towering buildings in 2017. Every race of human being has been enslaved at some point in history.

The population of Memphis, Tennessee is about 64% black or African American, if you prefer. Mr. Batterson, evidently, does not believe that the citizens of Memphis, no matter what race, are capable of processing a film like “Gone with the Wind”. May I ask you, Mr. Batterson? Do you think they lack intelligence? Do you think they lack the education? Are the citizens of the city of Memphis incapable of being enlightened or entertained?

Mr. Batterson, sir, you had a choice. And, you chose wrong. Your mission statement is to “Entertain. Educate. Enlighten.” You failed.

You could have chosen to show “Gone with the Wind” (GWTW) simply as a work of art. You could have invited speakers to address historical accuracy or inaccuracy of GWTW. You could have invited Black Lives Matter to discuss how America has failed to move forward. You could have invited Spike Lee to discuss black actors in film history.

Mr. Batterson, you should not even be allowed to vacuum the carpets at the Orpheum Theatre. Truly, that is how horribly you have failed. You could have done a whole series on how Mammy knows exactly who Scarlett is from jump.

But, Mr. Batterson, you failed the people of Memphis, anyone who loves history, and anyone who loves great films like “Gone with the Wind.” You failed to “Entertain. Educate. Enlighten.” You are a failure.

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2 Comments
  • Chris in N.Va says:

    Don’t (want to) know much about history…..

    (To paraphrase Prissy) I don’t know nuthin’ bout history!!

    Yup. Keep ’em ignorant and you can keep ’em on the Lib Dem Plantation forever, knowing and staying “in their place” in society.

  • And here I thought “Gone With The Wind” was just the ultimate chick flick! The Year Zero Democrats have found another book/film to burn.

    Ironically, Scarlet was undeniably a proto-feminist. She was a strong woman who constantly chaffed under antebellum rules of propriety and never hesitated to use her sexuality for her own gain.

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