Donald Trump has lashed out at the South Korean movie Parasite after it won Best Picture at the Oscars, almost two weeks ago and asked for more films like 1939's Gone with the Wind, which has been revised as deeply problematic and racist.
Nice to see Trump is keeping up with the news that doesn't directly affect him...
At a rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in an unprecedented move the president said:
By the way, how bad were the Academy Awards this year? Did you see them?
And the winner is ... a movie from South Korea. What the hell was that all about? We've got enough problems with South Korea with trade. On top of that they give them the best movie of the year? Was it good? I don't know.
You know I'm looking for, like, where .... Let's get Gone with the Wind? Can we get, like, Gone with the Wind back please? Sunset Boulevard...so many great movies.
The winner is ... from South Korea. I thought it was best foreign film, right? Best foreign movie! No, it was the ... did this ever happen before?
The president of the United States is complaining about 'Parasite' winning Best Picture at the Oscars because it's… https://t.co/d3cS8o84cY— Kyle Griffin (@Kyle Griffin) 1582246824
Oh boy...where to start with this?
Well, let's just say that Trump's complaints about a widely praised and adored foreign film, which he hasn't seen, winning best picture are extremely problematic and have caused disgust on Twitter.
“Do you think Trump is a racist?” was a question reporters innocently asked for the first couple of years of this p… https://t.co/CBwdv3kipQ— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1582247605
Ironically, Parasite is about how ineffectual, unaware elites exploit the working class, and the extreme lengths th… https://t.co/FML2CrMiVv— Grace Segers (@Grace Segers) 1582246515
Yes, Trump's a racist, but there's an even bigger reason he can't stand Parasite winning Best Picture: it also has… https://t.co/cIcZ9oWIDG— Eric Allen Hatch (@Eric Allen Hatch) 1582251011
Trump mocked PARASITE? That's it. He has finally crossed a line.— Wajahat Ali (@Wajahat Ali) 1582249640
Live shot of Stephen Miller on his honeymoon suddenly realizing that Trump should trash Parasite. https://t.co/dxCsv7mM73— Mark Harris (@Mark Harris) 1582250885
Donald Trump hating on Parasite winning Best Picture because it’s from South Korea. America, your president is a ra… https://t.co/tF309EFwJM— Ari Solomon (@Ari Solomon) 1582247018
The problems with Trump outburst don't end there as his assessment of a film like Gone With the Wind, which is historically perceived as being a film that gave stereotypical depictions of the African-Americans, as a better and more deserving film is obviously deeply troubling.
Gone with the Wind, which was released in 1939 and did sweep the board at the Oscars, including a win for Hattie McDaniel (who was the first black person to ever win such an Oscar, but wasn't allowed to sit with her fellow cast members at the ceremony), has been revised as being just as racist as a film like The Birth of a Nation, a 1915 silent movie which depicts the Ku Klux Klan as heroic figures of the American civil war.
Revisionist, academics and civil rights activists like Malcolm X have been critical of Gone with the Wind illustration of black people being willing to accept their roles as slaves as well as the film's racist dialogue. But regardless the movie went on to be seen as an American classic and remains the highest-grossing film of all-time when figures are adjusted for inflation.
Trump's praise for Gone with the Wind has led to many pointing out just how alarming it is especially when he is happy to criticise Parasite.
Hattie McDaniel, better known as Mammy in Gone with the Wind was not even allowed to sit at the same table as Vivie… https://t.co/q3Rx3u3OOo— Melanie Coates (@Melanie Coates) 1582253499
Trump openly pining for "Gone with the Wind" is the doggiest dogwhistle that ever dogwhistled.— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈) 1582274016
Still, there could be a bigger reason for why Trump doesn't like Parasite...subtitles, which the film's US distributor Neon was more than happy to mock him about.
Understandable, he can't read. #Parasite #BestPicture #Bong2020 https://t.co/lNqGJkUrDP— NEON (@NEON) 1582247192
trump is mad at Parasite’s success at the academy awards because he literally can’t can’t read the subtitles. oh an… https://t.co/Gb4C9x8SRd— prison wallet (@prison wallet) 1582268175
Trump just hates Parasite because it involves reading.— shauna (@shauna) 1582261432
Trump also took aim at Brad Pitt during his speech, after the actor criticised the Senate during the Oscars for their handling of Trump's impeachment trial. It should be noted that Pitt is one of the major figures in Hollywood at the moment who has routinely championed the work by black filmmakers and actors and worked as a producer on films like 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight, to name a few.