According to McQueen, Selznick visited the set one day while Cukor was shooting a scene with Melanie in childbirth. “When Butterfly McQueen went into her act,” he wrote, “I felt like crawling under the rug.” He wasn’t alone in his disapproval of the ditsy slave girl who sweeps through the climax of the first act of the film with no less force than the whirlwind evoked in the stanza of Ernest Dowson’s poetry appropriated by Margaret Mitchell for the title of her book. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. | | For all of its political incorrectness, Gone With the Wind remains relatively popular in modern America while older plantation-bound favorites like Song of the South have fallen to the wayside. Hattie “Butterfly” McQueen was born January 7, 1911, and was an African-American actress. It’s a jarring moment—the heroine of the film is actually beating her slave. Malcolm X was not a fan of Prissy in Gone With the Wind. But I think that to insist upon this reading of the character is to underestimate McQueen’s talents as an actress. As one of my friends said to me recently, “I don’t understand why people think Prissy is stupid: she’s the slave who doesn’t agree to do the work.”. Shipping: FREE Standard Shipping | See details . But in this article, I do want to suggest that the filmmakers portray race relationships in a way that is more nuanced than it may first appear, and that the contributions of the African American actors to the richness and complexity of the final narrative should not be underestimated. Behind her melodramatic veneer, though, Prissy is actually a different person behind closed doors. To many, she seems a mere stereotype employed for comic relief. : The points you make are a big help to me. As a white commentator, I don’t want to underrate the importance of the visceral negative reactions of many viewers of color to aspects of McQueen’s performance that they see as demeaning. Gone With the Wind’s racial politics are dizzyingly dated, no doubt. Created in 1993. It wasn’t easy to get a part in a movie in 1939 as a black woman in Hollywood, let alone one who sounded like Butterfly McQueen in a world too quick to judge individuals with high sounding voices as being infantilized. As Scarlett fans the dying Melanie while they both wait for the doctor, she hears Prissy’s voice outside the window. Year: 1995. I have a feeling that it was all Butterfly. Find the exact moment in a TV show, movie, or music video you want to share. #16650 8" Prissy Gone With the Wind collection. I don’t think that this was the director’s contribution. : Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. She threatens “Don’t you be upsetting (Melanie), or I’ll whip the hide off you.” And then, there is this magical moment where Butterfly McQueen ad-libs a line that shows she knew exactly what she was doing with the character. She wasn’t affecting that unforgettably distinctive tone halfway between Walt Disney’s Snow White and Minnie Mouse. She refused to be literally slapped by Vivien Leigh during her climactic scene, even against the violent protests of Cukor; she said that she would scream loudly if the slap was simulated, but would take it completely silently if her face was touched.