Rather Missing The Point Here…

John Patterson, ‘Guardian’ film critic:

I have to wonder what the motivation is for re-releasing Gone With The Wind just a couple months before 12 Years A Slave, its polar opposite among films dealing with the peculiar institution of American slavery.

Well, old films get rereleased all the time. Why not rerelease this one?

But, being alert to all things race, like a good little Guardianista, he scents a hidden agenda…

Gone With The Wind wants to be about Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler, not slavery.

Ummm, well, yes. That’s hardly surprising, is it, since they are the main characters, and the focus of the novel? So noting that slavery is only mentioned in passing, as background, is rather like noticing that ‘Life Of Pi’ is all about a man and a tiger, and not about the sea…

But if you thought that was the greatest absurdity in this, think again:

Sometimes moments of unself-conscious period racism do make it to the screen, and it is almost refreshing to see it kicked out from under its stone. Preston Sturges's comedies feature some nasty racial jibes (I cite the cook in Sullivan's Travels) and Raoul Walsh serially demeans the bug-eyed and superstitious Stepin Fetchit in High Sierra, while Tarzan's New York Adventure is quite staggeringly racist (it's all Cheeta's fault).

Wha..? But Cheeta's the ape, so that means you...

Ooooh! I wouldn't go there if I were you!