‘I cringe at the slave portions’: How fans of Gone with the Wind negotiate anti-racist criticism

Abstract

In recent years an increasing number of cultural products have come under fire for moral or political reasons, such as racist or sexist content, in the mainstream (White) public sphere. An outstanding example is the classic 1939 film Gone with the Wind (GWTW), which is loved by many but also strongly criticised for glorifying the American Antebellum South and ignoring the inhumanity of slavery. This case study explores how fans of the film (and the novel on which it was based) negotiate their appreciation of GWTW and these controversial issues. Using an open-ended survey and follow-up interviews, we explore two dominant narratives among the film's predominantly White fans: one that fiercely defends the film against criticism and one that expresses increased feelings of ambivalence and awkwardness. Thus, we add a more self-reflective and dynamic approach to scholarship on cultural taste, audience reception, and fan studies.