Oliver Stone has vocally opposed cancel culture in past interviews over the last few weeks. Page Six says the director recently commented on the phenomenon again, arguing that if he created the same movies he did in the past in today’s societal landscape, he would be “vilified” and have his career destroyed.
The director who created films such as Wall Street, Natural Born Killers, and Platoon, came out to say earlier this week that if he had created those movies today, his career wouldn’t be the same.
Stone added, “I’d be vilified, I’d be attacked. Shamed.” During his appearence on Jim Norton and Sam Robert‘s SiriusXM radio show, the director talked about the impossibility of making great films in today’s era, because he would offend so many people.
Stone went on to say to the co-hosts of the show that there needs to be a certain degree of freedom to create compelling films.
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As it was noted above, Stone touched on cancel culture again earlier this year in the context of the removal of Gone With The Wind from HBOMax. The film was taken off the streaming platform initially before it was reinserted with a new disclaimer at the beginning of the movie.
The film has come under fire in recent years for glamorizing or celebrating the southern United States during a time in which slavery was still allowed. Moreover, the film has been accused of facilitating African-American stereotypes.
Regarding Oliver Stone’s perception of the movie, as well as the backlash against it, the Platoon director claimed it was a timeless classic that was an important part of his mother’s era. Stone claimed the criticisms of it were correct, however, it was created in an entirely different time.
Stone went on to say how it was important to keep such films in the collective consciousness because they say something about a historical period. Moreover, there is still much to be learned from classic works of art, even though they might be offensive today.
Other stars have disagreed, including people like Queen Latifah, who said Gone With The Wind should be removed forever.