New York Times:

HBO Max has removed from its catalog “Gone With the Wind,” the 1939 movie long considered a triumph of American cinema but one that romanticizes the Civil War-era South while glossing over its racial sins.

The streaming service pledged to eventually bring the film back “with a discussion of its historical context” while denouncing its racial missteps, a spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.

“‘Gone With the Wind’ is a product of its time and depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society,” an HBO Max spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”

But they were wrong “yesterday” as well. And the day before that and the day before that. HBO Max is making it seem like they watched the movie on Monday and thought, “Holy crap! We had no idea how racist this movie was!” HBO Max pulling it today makes you ask the question, “If it was so racist, why did you ever have it available for streaming?” Even Disney recognizes some of its racist past and has refused to ever make “Song of the South” available on any platform.

Gone with the Wind has always been a racist movie. It didn’t just become one when HBO Max recovered from the fainting couch and put away their smelling salts like Aunt PittyPat. My wife and I watched it again (me for the 10th time) this past weekend and enjoyed it immensely while still seeing, being aware of and acknowledging its racism.