In Praise of Hattie

Rating: Null/10 (11 August 2000)

To those who say the movie is racist, I sadly agree. It gives me no pleasure to do because I also love this film. Nevertheless, undeniably, it glorifies slavery and falsely claims that after the Civil War the worst victims in the South were the whites. In fact, the real victims were the Southern African-American citizens; 1865 stands out as the year with the most lynchings in American history. My one defence for its racism lies with an artist too little praised, judging from the other comments: Hattie MacDaniel, as Mammy.
It's a brillant, Oscar-winning performance and it is not a stereotype. Maybe the character is a stereotype in Mitchell's novel, maybe even was one in the script--but the character is not a stereotype in confident hands of an artist like Ms. MacDaniel. There is nothing stupid about Mammy. Aside from Rhett, she's the only one who sees through Scarlet's schemes. In fact, Scarlett seems able to fool most all white men left and right, but she never fools Mammy. Hattie MacDaniel, along with suggesting someone who is strong and smart, is also very funny, often evoking more laughs, at least from me, than even Rhett.
Another plump African-American actress of the time, Louise Beavers, also played only Mammys in Hollywood movies, such as IMITATION OF LIFE (1934) and HOLIDAY INN. Every time, she always played a house servant who was sweet, sacrificing, and slow-witted. Thank God, or Selznick, that Beavers did not play this part. So yes, the movie, like so many works from the past, is racist. Nevertheless, it's a grand adolescent fairytale, an eye-popping spectacle, and it's got the most memorable, three-dimensional Mammy in the history of film (believe me, there many competitors).