[BREITBART] Los Angeles Times film critic Justin Chang said Friday on CNN that President Donald Trump...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
mentioning the movie "Gone With the Wind" at his rally was a "racist dog whistle."
Chang said, "It’s kind of unfortunate, I think, that we have a president whose entire presidency is founded on xenophobia and of course his comments are not surprising coming from someone who likes to dehumanize people of other cultures and people of color. So none of that’s surprising."
He continued, "Well, that whole thing, "Gone with the Wind" and "Sunset Boulevard," that all smacks of a dog whistle hearkening back to an earlier era of Hollywood greatness. Look, we can love "Gone with the Wind," and also acknowledge it’s the romantic view of the old South, which many people find problematic. That is another racist dog whistle as well."
He added, "I think it’s real laziness on his part. He is just someone who is very lazy. I think to say that. You know, a lot of people say this, there are no movies being made in the present today that are as good as the classics that were made 50 or 60 years ago. And it’s totally fine that Trump is, you know, out of touch with popular culture. You know, he has or should have better things to do like running the country, but he really should think twice about speaking about things of which he is so woefully ignorant."
Does that last paragraph make sense to anyone?... Bueller?
I like Trump. Not being a dog, I can't hear his whistle. He's obviously not lazy, since he's on the go all the time, so that's nothing but political calumny.
I also like Gone with the Wind. It's a great movie, based on a great book. Racist? I suppose, by today's mealy-mouthed lights, but it was made eighty five years ago. It's about events in the 1860's, in an area where slavery was a fact of life. It holds together still, better than, for instance, Birth of a Nation, which is only twenty years older. It's the character studies that make Gone with the Wind, not tedious Race Relations® (which is why they don't regularly re-release Birth of a Nation).
Look at the characters:Scarlet - Selfish, self-centered, and unlettered, under a thinly civilized shell. See the part where Rhett suggests naming her store the Caveat Emporium.
Rhett - Strong, manly, brave, and cynical, with a marshmallow layer over a steel core. There are layers to Rhett, and without the layers the movie and the book would have flopped.
Ashley - A nice man, but ineffectual. A good argument against inbreeding, which one of the minor characters comments on early in the book.
Melanie - A sweet person, and loyal to Scarlet, refusing to see her shortcomings. Melanie's more of an ideal than a real-life character.
Mammy - Wise and strong. Without Mammy, Scarlet would have been just another background character in her own book. Hattie McDaniel received an Academy Award for the part, and it was well-deserved.
Prissy - The anti-Mammy, a brainless dipshit.
Mose - Loyalty. He's just a field hand, but he's a good man. Notice that Scarlet and all her family are kind to him (and all the slaves, note) and Mose is loyal in return.
Frank Kennedy - Barely anybody home there, a will o' the wisp, but again, he's loyal to Scarlet because of what he believes she is, even after she lied to him to steal him from her sister.
Jonas Wilkerson - The overseer. You know you're gonna hate him. Scarlet's mother dismisses him for diddling Emmy Slattery.
Aunt Pittypat - The comic relief, full of airs and graces and not a lick of sense.
Then there's the background of the Civil War. It starts out with nifty uniforms and hoorays, and it ends with little Phil marching off to defend Atlanta and never coming back. Mose, Mammy, and Po'k are Scarlet's friends and supports; they all work together after the defeat, rootin' taters and pickin' cotton to survive. Scarlet's mother dies trying to help the trashy Slatteries, who are no account ingrates lacking the class of Mose the field hand.
I'm still looking for the dog whistle in here. It's a good movie, set at the end of a different civilization. It's got blacks in subordinate positions, but that's not what it's about. Maybe Mister Film Critic needs to watch it again.