Movie Censorship: Is it Time to Reconsider What We Are Allowed to Watch?
If you are like me you have probably read a great novel and were later thrilled to see that it's coming to the big screen. But alas, upon reading the novel you were let down by the watered down screen version.
In this internet age we are bombarded by our news, media and search engines with images displaying in graphic detail every known atrocity and deviance under the sun. Our senses have become dulled by the sheer volume of it all. So why are our movies being censored when, with a click of a button, nothing is left to the imagination? Why do we need to be protected from the mad minds of Steven King and Clive Barker? And how did it all get this way? To understand this we must first delve into a bit of Hollywood history.
The Motion Picture Association of America is the film ratings authority that reviews our movies and gives them their stamp of approval. A movie is rated based upon its content and a subsequent rating attached to it. This rating governs who, if anyone can even watch it.
It all started in 1922, with some risqué films and a series of off-screen scandals involving Hollywood stars. There were those that felt the antics of Hollywood were corrupting our morals as a society. Political pressure was building, with legislators in 37 states introducing almost 100 movie censorship bills in 1921. So the studios enlisted Presbyterian elder Will H. Hays to rehabilitate Hollywood's image. Hays was paid $100,000 a year, a great sum of money for that time, to clean up Hollywood's image. Hays served for 25 years as president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA), where he defended the industry. He devised "The Formula" in 1924, which the studios were advised to heed, and asked filmmakers to describe to his office the plots of pictures they were planning on making. The Supreme Court had already decided that free speech did not extend to motion pictures. But stage theater productions remained a frequent source of topless shows, performances filled with curse words, mature subject matters, and sexually suggestive dialogue.
In 1927 Hays suggested studio executives form a committee to discuss film censorship. They collaborated on a list they called the "Don'ts and Be Carefuls" based on items that were challenged by local censor boards. The list was approved by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the guidelines evolved into what we have today to govern the content of our movies. It has been largely unchanged for eighty years.
Today, we have great independent film makers getting their movies out to the masses on shoestring budgets that are unfettered by censorship. And we have the option to watch it or not. It is this movie lover's sincere hope that the great novelists and directors will get on board with this trend as well. Their talent and vision should not be chained by a rating. If we had the opportunity to see Wes Craven's movies as he really envisioned them we'd truly never sleep again.
Reference
"MPAA: Censorship Is Good For Consumers | Techdirt" . n.p., n.d. Web. 3 Aug. 2013.
"Motion Picture Production Code" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. n.p., 1 Aug. 2013.Web. 3 Aug. 2013.
Previously Posted on FullofKnwledge.com
Previously Posted on FullofKnwledge.com
Some of the stuff that was banned years ago is now quite tame I feel. Things like Clockwork Orange. I watched it at a special screening and didn't think that much of it.
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