‘Gone With the Wind’: The classic movie that William Friedkin never wanted to watch again

Posted On September 18, 2024September 18, 2024

American director William Friedkin had a career that spanned decades, but he is perhaps best known for directing one of the most iconic movies of all time: The Exorcist. Released in 1973, the movie was monumental for the horror genre, becoming the first to win an Oscar for ‘Best Picture’.

Friedkin never intended for the movie to be an outright horror. Instead, he wanted it to be more of a dramatic exploration of religion, but the result was something rather terrifying. Talking to The LipTV, he explained, “I certainly do not belong to any religious faith, but I never intended The Exorcist to be a horror film, and now I recognise that it is”.

“The public, over 40 years, thinks of it as a horror film. So I must be wrong: it’s a friggin’ horror film. But I thought of it as a powerful story about the mystery of faith.”

With a ‘Best Director’ Academy Award under his belt, Friedkin’s reputation as a successful filmmaker rose, but before then, he had already made several acclaimed movies. He directed the critically praised The Boys In The Band in 1970, one of the first American films to centre around gay characters, thus making it an important title in the LGBTQ+ canon. 

Friedkin also made The French Connection, a highly acclaimed masterpiece that earned many Oscar nominations. It proved to be a career-defining performance for Gene Hackman, too, helping him to become a more well-known star.

Over the years, Friedkin worked with many acclaimed stars in a variety of genres, clearly taking inspiration from many classic works of cinema. However, there are some revered pieces of cinema that he just doesn’t love, revealing his distaste for one in an interview with That Shelf. Discussing the fact that movies are subjective, Friedkin explained that there are always going to be people who don’t like a popular or highly acclaimed film – that’s just the way things go.

“There are people that don’t like Citizen Kane or Gone With the Wind. And I’m one of the ones that doesn’t like Gone With the Wind. I don’t like it! I have no interest in it. I’ve seen it, but I never want to see it again, and the films I love I’ll watch over and over again on DVD and Blu-ray,” he said.

Gone With the Wind is considered a classic by many, but Friedkin can’t say he feels the same. Directed by Victor Fleming (the same year he made The Wizard of Oz), the film featured many iconic stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, like Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, and Leslie Howard.

The film garnered lots of praise, although Friedkin isn’t alone in being critical of the classic movie. In the decades since it was released, attitudes have changed dramatically, and many contemporary audiences have called out the film’s depiction of race. The black characters are all servants, and many argue that the film perpetuates the notion that white people are more civilised and superior.

Additionally, the film has been criticised for essentially excusing and normalising marital rape, something that was sadly not addressed at the time. Gone With the Wind hasn’t aged particularly well, and Friedkin just didn’t care for it.

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