Views of Hollywood classic Gone with the Wind have seen a significant upward trend on China’s streaming platforms after it was pulled from streaming platform HBO Max amid current protests against police racism and brutality in the US, according to research by a consulting agency on Monday.
According to Global Research Center, the film’s daily views on June 6 reached 11,300 and after HBO Max pulled the film, the views rose to 31,900 times as of June 13.
The data was collected by five Chinese streaming platforms including Tencent Video, iQIYI, Youku, Sohu Video and ixigua who have the copyright to play the film, and each effective view refers to a single viewing of the film in its entirety.
The increase happened not only in China but also on US platforms.
According to reports, sales of the film’s DVDs on Amazon rose to the top in the film and television category, and the film also surged to fifth place in iTunes’ movie category on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump once expressed his liking for Gone with the Wind at a campaign rally when he ridiculed the South Korean film Parasite winning the best-picture award at the 2020 Oscars.
Gone with the Wind, released in 1939, tells the love story between aristocrats Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler and stars Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Hattie McDaniel and Olivia de Havilland. The story takes place on a plantation outside Atlanta during and after the US Civil War.
Photo: Courtesy of Global Research Center
