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With its then-groundbreaking Technicolor cinematography, a soaring score by Max Steiner, and captivating performances by its lead actors, Gone with the Wind is considered a landmark achievement in film
. Adapted from Margaret Mitchell’s bestselling novel of the same name, the film follows Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), a headstrong Southern belle whose privileged life on a plantation is shattered by the Civil War and its aftermath. As she struggles to rebuild her family’s plantation and maintain her social status, she falls into a turbulent romance with the cynical Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). The story explores the societal consequences of war and self-reliance as the key to survival.Because of its problematic portrayal of Black enslaved characters and its romanticism of the deeply racist antebellum South, the movie was protested by the NAACP as well as many members of the Black press when it was released in 1939. In 2021, when HBO Max included the movie in its streaming catalog, Oscar-winning director John Ridley wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times calling for its removal and saying, “It is a film that, when it is not ignoring the horrors of slavery, pauses only to perpetuate some of the most painful stereotypes of people of color.” Directed by Victor Fleming, the film won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Adjusted for inflation, it’s still the highest-grossing film ever made.
