Memphis’ Orpheum Theatre has announced its decision to pull
the 1939 film, “Gone with the Wind,” from its summer film series.
I will not hide my disappointment at hearing this news. My disappointment centers around the fact that one of GWTW’s stars, Hattie
McDaniel, was the very first African American to win an Academy Award, for her
role as Mammy, a slave at Tara, the film’s fictional plantation. From my
perspective, the Orpheum’s decision to pull GWTW has resulted in the loss of a
significant piece of history – the history of Hattie McDaniel. And I am stunned
that others have not voiced the same concern.
Through our modern lenses, some may choose to disparage this
Civil War film. Some may choose to criticize McDaniel’s role as a slave in the
film; it is claimed that she was criticized by the NAACP for accepting roles as
maids and servants and perpetuating those stereotypes of African American
persons.
But regardless of how we view it today, Hattie McDaniel made
history.
McDaniel made history when a segregated Academy chose to
honor her for her work. Consider that, among the other contenders for the Supporting
Actress Oscar that year included McDaniel’s GWTW co-star, Olivia de Havilland.
Imagine how she (and the rest of the
contenders!) must have felt, losing to McDaniel – in 1940.
McDaniel made history when she accepted the award in a
segregated Ambassador Hotel. The film’s producer, David Selznick, apparently had
to secure permission for her even to enter the hotel to accept the award (She
had previously been barred from GWTW’s Atlanta premiere.). In her acceptance
speech, McDaniel, the daughter of two slaves, said, "I shall always hold
it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future. I sincerely hope
I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry."
McDaniel made history, even before her Oscar win, when she
became the first African American woman to sing on the radio in the United
States. And after her Oscar win, she went on to make more history, purchasing a
home in the exclusive West Adams Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles, and in
the process, fighting restrictive racial covenants which were designed to
prevent African Americans from owning homes there.
Clearly, with our new, politically correct 20/20 vision in
2017, the Orpheum has decided not only that McDaniel isn’t a credit to her
race, but also that the film – as art – has nothing to offer any of us. Too
smart for our own good, we’ve thrown the proverbial baby out with the bath
water. And instead of celebrating the extraordinary milestone of McDaniel’s
win, we’ve pushed her out of sight and mind, her name never to be spoken by future
generations who cannot fathom what she accomplished in her time. We choose to overlook just how incredible
her performance must have been for a segregated Academy to award her an
Oscar in 1940.
Another 24 years would pass before the next African American
– Sidney Poitier – would win an Oscar for his role in “Lilies of the Field.”
I am ashamed that the Orpheum has chosen to close that
chapter of history here in Memphis – rather than dedicating all future showings to
McDaniel and taking that opportunity to share her history. I am
ashamed that, rather than celebrating the fact that she pushed against
restrictive racial covenants and helped to desegregate an exclusive Los Angeles
neighborhood, we follow those who would find her an embarrassment, and push her
aside.
Our shared history together – black and white – on North
American soil is unpleasant and complicated. But it is just that: our shared
history. And until we work to come to terms with it – in all of its ugliness –
we will continue to struggle.
Thank you, Hattie McDaniel, for your contributions to our
history. I, for one, truly appreciate you.
