REFRAMED: "GONE WITH THE WIND"
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
This 1939 classic is the first of several films shown tonight in this month’s new Thursday showcase of classic movies with some now-problematic themes, characters, or sequences – for example, the casual use of minstrelsy blackface by Al Jolson in 1927’s The Jazz Singer. This new overview is called “Reframed: Classic Films in the Rearview Mirror,” and it’s another reason why Turner Classic Movies is the best, most focused and most valuable arts network on all of television. More than any other entity out there, it takes its archival role most seriously, and not only keeps old works of art alive by preserving and presenting them anew, but by explaining both their worth and their original context. There are two ways to approach such controversial films as Birth of a Nation, or even Gone with the Wind, with its benign and often comic depictions of Civil War-era slaves and slavery. You can “cancel” them, and refuse to show them – or discuss them maturely and intelligently, pointing out their flaws as well as their achievements. All five of TCM’s film-savvy hosts are in on this act all month, chiming in every Thursday, in a month-long examination that includes John Ford’s The Searchers, Blake Edwards’ Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and such disparate entries as Tarzan the Ape Man and My Fair Lady. There is no shortage of movies that deserve discussion and scrutiny in this manner. There are so many, in fact, that TCM should contemplate making “Reframed” one of its regular weekly showcase offerings, along with dedicated slots to silent movies, film noir, and so on. When it comes to curating movies, there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing.