Gone with the Wind
Artist
Bob Light
born 1949
Artist
John Houston
United States, 1906 - 1987
Publisher
Socialist Worker
1977 - 2019
Client
Pacifistisch-Socialistische Partij
Netherlands, 1957 - 1991
Date1985
Dimensions24 x 17 in. (61 x 43.2 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.7680
DescriptionThis satirical poster features U.S. President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the respective roles of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara in a parody of Gone with the Wind. It is meant to reflect their aggressive policies on the stockpiling of nuclear weapons. Films often played a major role in educating the general public about the horrors of nuclear warfare, especially as governments typically had their own agendas when presenting information on their defense strategies. In 1965, the BBC was pressured by the British government not to air The War Game, a film it had produced on the realities of nuclear war. Despite this suppression within its home country, the film went on to win a special prize at the Venice Film Festival as well as an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In November 1983, ABC aired the made-for-TV movie The Day After, a film depicting the aftermath of nuclear conflict in the heartland of the United States. It deliberately did not indicate who started the events, but simply focused on the fact that no place in the world would be safe if tensions ever escalated to that level. It remains the highest-rated television film production in U.S. history. On View
Not on view
