But even when the film was released in cinemas in the late 1930s, it was criticized for its racist portrayal. Protests against the film flared up again in 2020 for the same issues; in Germany, Gone With the Wind was briefly taken down from Amazon Prime Video and only rereleased with opening credits stating that the film depicts “racial and ethnic prejudices” that are “unfortunately commonplace in American society.”
Oscars 1978: Annie Hall
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Woody Allen’s film Annie Hall won the Oscar for best picture in 1978, despite the fact that the first Star Wars was also in the running. It’s one of the few romantic comedies to ever be selected for best picture and won four Oscars in total.
However, in the years that followed, director Woody Allen was accused of sexual assault on his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, when she was seven years old. He himself denies the allegations, but the 2021 documentary Allen v Farrow shows private footage that heavily incriminates Allen. Besides, the director also married his other adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn; when they began their relationship, he was 56 and she was 21.
Against this background, there’s an undercurrent to his films that makes them uncomfortable to watch in hindsight. In many of Allen’s movies, an older, shy, and modest guy (usually played by himself) gets together with a young, beautiful woman who is often portrayed as innocent or quirky. See: Annie Hall, Manhattan, etc. The repetition of this theme just feels icky with the context of the allegations, which is why Hollywood stars such as Greta Gerwig, Selena Gomez, and Timothée Chalamet have distanced themselves from the director and donated their fees from his films to charitable causes.
Oscars 1990: Driving Miss Daisy
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