History of censorship Flashcards
Supreme Court decision of 1915
This decision said that movies were not a form of free speech and were not protected under the laws. This meant movies were not allowed to say certain things or try to get the audience to believe what they believe.
The Production code
The industry first made the production code in 1927, it was made by hollywood for states and hollywood without the law making these rules. It was not enforced till the end of 1933 and the start of 1934. Will hays was made the head of the production code first. They couldn’t fully make enforce it but will hays would say something publically if he did not like the film. Another reason this was made was because some people saw hollywood as a place of sin and they wanted to get rid of that label.
Production code of 1934
This banned nudity, violence ,sex, vioence, any metion of drugs and interracial marriages. Joseph breen and the PCAC reviewed scripts before the production and reviewed the film after post production. Themes and characters that did things had to lightly suggest things so adults could understand them.
Pre production code of 1930-34
Films during this time did not follow the codes, many are full of violene and sex (that is far less than what is shhown today)
Will Hays
He was the head of the Motion Picture producers and distrubters of america and at first he couldnt stop films but he would say publically if he didn’t approve of one. His stragedy was to push the producers to elimate offensive content in their films.
Production code administration
The Production Code Administration (PCA) was established by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) in 1934 to enforce the Motion Picture Production Code. The PCA required all filmmakers to submit their films for approval before release.
The miracle case
The supreme court case of 1952 reverses 1915 decision movies were now a form of free speech protected by the first amendment. But that didn’t mean the production code still have control over films.
