'Gone With the Wind' screening canceled after 'social media storm'

August 29, 2017 at 1:00 a.m. | Updated August 29, 2017 at 3:21 a.m.

by Associated Press

In this Dec. 19, 1939, file photo, a crowd walks past the Astor Theater during the Broadway premiere of "Gone With the Wind" in New York. A Memphis, Tennessee, theater has cancelled an annual screening of the classic 1939 film because of racially insensitive content. (AP Photo, File)
In this Dec. 19, 1939, file photo, a crowd walks past the Astor Theater during the Broadway premiere of "Gone With the Wind" in New York. A Memphis, Tennessee, theater has cancelled an annual screening of the classic 1939 film because of racially insensitive content. (AP Photo, File)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee theater has canceled a long-running screening of "Gone With the Wind" because of racially insensitive content in the classic 1939 film.

Officials at Memphis' Orpheum Theatre have announced that the film will not be shown during its summer movie series in 2018. Theater president Brett Batterson says in a statement that "the Orpheum cannot show a film that is insensitive to a large segment of its local population."

The film was shown at the Orpheum on Aug. 11. This is the 34th straight year it has screened at the theater.

"Gone With the Wind" tells the story of the daughter of a Georgia plantation owner during and after the Civil War.

Batterson tells the Memphis Commercial Appeal a "social media storm" played a role in the decision.

Violence in Charlottesville, Va.

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