The Orpheum Theater in Memphis, Tennessee, has canceled annual screenings of "Gone With the Wind" because the board deemed the film insensitive to its audience.
Before the theater’s decision not to show the movie, its social media pages were flooded with comments that the movie was racist and a “tribute to white supremacy,” Entertainment Weekly reported.
After the decision was made to pull the screenings, however, the comments shifted the other direction and accused the theater of trying to erase history and of censorship. Some called for a boycott of the theater because of the action.
"What is going to be banned or dropped next?" one Facebook commenter wrote. "This is just a movie for crying out loud! I hope the people who are doing this realize what a dangerous step this is. History will not be deleted or forgotten as long as I have a voice or breath left in me."
Another said, “Folks should boycott this theater permanently. It is censoring historical art ... as it cowardly secumbs (sic) to political correctness.”
“You want to politicize your business ... now that is not a very smart policy for an industry that is dying,” another person commented.
One commenter even pointed out Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy in "Gone With the Wind," was the first African-American to win an Oscar.
“This is something that’s been questioned every year, but the social media storm this year really brought it home, ” Orpheum president Bret Batterson said in a statment. He also noted the movie’s popularity has declined in recent years.
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