'Gone with the Wind' and other stereotypical depictions in film

Following the global Black Lives Matter protests, will there be a reassessment of film history? The popular classic "Gone with the Wind" was temporarily removed from WarnerMedia's streaming platform, HBO Max. The film's depiction of the slaves' lives was idealized and not representative of their reality, admitted the company.

But "Gone with the Wind" will soon return to HBO Max with an introduction by a film expert providing more historical context on the film. Still, the case raises more questions, as many other movies from the past portray ethnic and racial prejudices that were widespread at the time.

The most famous and innovative film of the American silent film era was "The Birth of a Nation" by D.W. Griffith. The three-hour historical epic from 1915 depicts episodes from the US Civil War. The representation of African Americans is grossly distorted in this film, too: They are either depicted negatively, or they voluntarily comply with the ideas of white Americans.

And how should we deal with this film in the future? "The Jazz Singer" from 1927 is one of the most famous works of film history, as it was the first feature film with a synchronized soundtrack. Main actor Al Johnson, who was a renowned white singer and entertainer, performs in "blackface" in the movie — a practice which was common at the time, but is now widely considered to be racist.

Similarly to blackfacing, "redfacing" refers to non-Native Americans wearing feathers, warpaint, etc. and perpetuating stereotypes, which was often the case in Western films, such as in "Taza, Son of Cochise." The 1954 film was directed by Douglas Sirk, born Hans Detlef Sierck, a German who had fled the Nazis in 1937.

"The Searchers" is another prime example of the conflicting evaluations of a movie based on morality, aesthetics or history. John Ford's Western from 1956 is described as a masterpiece and one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. On the other hand, it also propagates racist stereotypes — should the work also be reassessed?

Many other influential, award-winning films have been criticized for being racist, and not just against African Americans. The 1978 war epic "The Deer Hunter" was criticized for its one-sided portrayal of all the North Vietnamese as sadistic racists and killers. Other critics pointed out that the film's focus on white US soldiers was not representative of the situation during the Vietnam War.

Even though it's an acclaimed cinematic masterpiece, Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" (1979) also focused on the portrayal of its white characters, while the Vietnamese were simply nameless stereotypical figures. How should we address such films in the future? And beyond the influential works, there are a bunch of very bad Vietnam War films — what should happen to them?

Racist humor was very common in Hollywood films in the early 1960s ⁠— and depictions of Asian characters were particularly stereotypical. One famous example is in the film classic "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Mickey Rooney's "comic" portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi, the upstairs neighbor of Audrey Hepburn's character Holly Golightly, has since been condemned as offensive anti-Japanese propaganda.

Latinos make up 18% of the total US population — the largest ethnic minority in the country, according to a recent DW study. This also leads to stereotypical representations. The rom-com "Maid in Manhattan" (2002) stars Jennifer Lopez, who falls in love with a politician (Ralph Fiennes) staying at the hotel where she works. Are the clichés of the lower-class sexy Latina girl acceptable today?

Many Austrian and German actors who fled the Nazis lived in exile in Hollywood, where they were mainly offered roles as Nazi characters ⁠— like Conrad Veidt as Major Strasser (left) in the film classic "Casablanca" (1942). Even years after the war, German-speaking actors were often cast in these clichéd roles.

This cliché can still be observed today. A relatively recent example is the German-Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, who portrayed an SS leader in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" (2009). It was definitely a brilliant acting performance, but one can still wonder why German-speaking actors are still given so many Nazi roles in the new millennium...

Some films directed under the Nazis with the direct goal of spreading anti-Semitic propaganda have been removed from distribution. For example, "Jud Süss" (1940) can only be viewed for study purposes with an introduction explaining the historical context and the intended impact of the film.