Race relations have always been a touchy subject for America and the entertainment industry and it doesn’t look like that is going to change anytime soon. A few things that I have learned from the platforms on HBO Max and Disney+ is that Gone with the Wind is still playing on the former platform, while Song of the South is nowhere to be found on any Disney platform.
The question befuddled me and I was trying my best to work up an answer without trying to think too hard for a solution and I think I may have a theory behind why the opposing platforms made their decisions.
HBO Max Viewers
I remember watching Gone with the Wind on HBOMax not too long ago and I remembered that the film opened with a disclaimer of what the movie was glorifying and glamorizing. The preface showed the wrongdoings of the filmmakers’ intentions.
They don’t just have a blank disclaimer of words for the audience to read. They go into actual detail of what went on during that time and the horrors of slavery.
According to The Guardian, HBO came with a statement for the film, which said: “These 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.”
It is very obvious to me that HBOMax did not want to be quickly accused of cancel culture and opted to explain the reasoning for the movie’s glamorization of the south and slavery and made it clear to audiences that this was still wrong.
Disney+ Audience
Disney, on the other hand, decided to have Song of the South completely removed from its platform for its audience. Children and their parents are most likely the main benefactors of this platform for one reason only: nostalgia.
Disney has had to put disclaimers in some films but this 1946 film was so deplorable in its racial insensitivity that it decided to not even bother having it on the platform, which I can only believe was a decision made for the children consuming the content. Plus, I don’t think the infamous “tar-baby” scene will translate well by today’s standards.
