Sounds like you should have just sent it to Bruce to start with. On Wed, Oct 25, 2023 at 9:30 PM David Kusumoto <[email protected]> wrote:
> ** Just wanted to share what happened to me recently. * > > ** A few months ago, I posted a GWTW program for sale* - the recalled > version featuring Hattie McDaniel on the back. Someone reported me - and it > got taken down and labeled as offensive. I guess whoever reported me - > judged the program as being akin to selling Nazi memorabilia, I don't know. > > ** I re-listed it - but had to add exhaustive historical context which I > personally researched *- about how McDaniel was banned from the Atlanta > and NYC premieres, etc. - adding citations about the program itself - from > Ron Haver from 1980 and from an LA Daily News story - the latter reporting > the Hattie program's appearance at the LA premiere she attended in late > Dec. 1939 at the Carthay Pacific (Fox Village Westwood) - through early > 1940. > > ** Eventually, all GWTW programs *including the blank back ones at the > premieres - were replaced by Selznick marketing executive Howard Dietz - > with programs which took out Hattie and replaced her with actress Alicia > Rhett, who had a minor role. But I got to thinking - why am I fighting > this at all with them? Rare book dealers in the know have all told me the > Hattie programs - are outnumbered by the blank back ones and the Alicia > Rhett ones - by a factor of thousands. It's the rare circumstance - whereby > a commercial program - can be worth a few hundred bucks or more depending > upon condition. > > ** Hattie's program was not banned because it was considered offensive in > 1939-40. *It was banned because Selznick / MGM distribution / Howard > Dietz did NOT want to potentially offend paying customers, esp. in > segregated America. On the other hand - eBay's ban in 2023 - is based upon > the program being considered offensive by TODAY'S cultural standards. > These are huge but important differences. > > ** So I took my program down *and sent it to eMoviePoster - where it's > supposed to appear in December. > > ** What I'm irritated about - *is the whole "you have to explain > everything" while defending yourself from people who think you're a racist > - even when it comes to old movie posters. I mean, you know, you're a > branch-to-root racist for selling material considered offensive today, even > if you put it in context to discourage this sort of takedown. eBay doesn't > know who I am, really, though I do sell a few tschotskes over there like > signed first editions, etc. > > ** But what happened bugged me. * This has never happened to me before. > Hattie McDaniel - including her name - was kept off of all GWTW movie > posters and subsequent re-issue posters for 50 years - for reasons we know. > She was given line-credits only - and her likeness was scrubbed from all > promotional materials until 1989. Her likeness didn't even APPEAR on a > re-issue poster until 1998. I suppose you can't sell posters featuring > Amos and Andy, Birth of a Nation nor the Jazz Singer over there either. > Without Hattie, the first African-American actor to win an Academy Award - > GWTW is a different movie and loses its moral center - regardless of how > people look at her depiction today. To me - she's the smartest character > in the movie. > > ** But apparently - this stuff is selectively enforced by the "community > standards" police. *Because today I stumbled upon the following listing > in lesser condition than the one I own - which I believe is also in lesser > condition than the example eMoviePoster sold many months ago for more than > $2K. > > https://www.ebay.com/itm/314909361404 > > ** And no, I don't plan to report this - but I think the whole thing is > nutty. *Parenthetically, the seller's handle is familiar in a way that > escapes me now. His listing does NOT come up in regular searches over > there, e.g., "Gone with the Wind program." It didn't for me, anyway. Maybe > if you add the search word, "recalled" - it will come up, but otherwise > it's not in the general listings. Just shaking my head. No reply > necessary, just venting. - d. > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > -- G. Sean Linkenback - Attorney 3217 S Cherokee Ln. Ste 740 Woodstock, GA 30188 Office: (470) 632-7833 Fax: (404) 330-9206 Email: [email protected] <[email protected]> Twitter: @Linkenback Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
