how Hollywood’s early struggles against self-censorship shaped the MPA –

how Hollywood’s early struggles against self-censorship shaped the MPA –

Long before Netflix Blonde Given the controversial NC-17 rating, the Motion Picture Association has awarded films such as Ojiña (1956) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) “Adults only” designations as a means of reassuring anxious and reforming parents.

Now that Hollywood news appears to span from local social activists to foreign governments, the debate dominates headlines and conversations on social media. But historically speaking, industry moguls are more likely to err on the side of not ruffling feathers, at home or abroad, to attract consumers, as the birth of the MPA 100 years ago demonstrates.

The lobby group, which will celebrate its centenary in 2022, was born as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association in 1922. MPPDA advisor CC Pettijohn once said at a public relations conference in 1929 that it was first heard that the film industry was a tripod. It included production, distribution and exhibition. Pettyjohn argued that the MPPDA allowed the community to act as a fourth leg that could make or break an industry.

A moment that led to its creation: When “America’s Sweetheart” Mary Pickford obtained a divorce from her husband, Owen Moore, in 1920, millions of faithful Catholics were convinced of her healthy image. When Gossip Girl put their man on hold behind the scenes, screen star Douglas Fairbanks, the moral crusaders found new firepower to question the standard of living in Hollywood. The situation worsened when Pickford was accused of breaking up Fairbanks’ marriage. While Pickford and Fairbanks still managed to become America’s royal couple, a precedent was set to question Hollywood’s morality.

Hollywood had another battle with social reformers after silent comedian Fatty Arbuckle’s scandalous night in San Francisco that allegedly resulted in the death of actress Virginia Rapp. As soon as the trials began, discussions about censorship began, which were heavily contested by the industry. Censorship “is as rotten as human slavery and has fewer friends,” he said. The world of moving images. Editor-in-Chief Arthur James in October 1921.

Will Hayes, newly appointed president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association of America, and Helen Chadwick at Goldwyn Studios in 1922.

Everett

Hollywood’s response was to self-regulate with the creation of the MPPDA in 1922. Pressure from social reformers led the industry to hire Will Hayes, President Harding’s postmaster, to join the industry in hopes of gaining the upper hand. public. Lewis Selznick called these tumultuous times “The Age of Scandals.” Selznick cited the new baseball commissioner as offering Hollywood a model for maintaining public trust. In his memoirs, Hayes wrote that “although I am not a reformer, I hope I have always had a public spirit”. Hayes offered a bridge between Hollywood and society. Against direct censorship, Hayes chose the democratic process because “self-regulation educates and empowers those who practice it.”

Hayes accepted the industry’s offer on January 14, 1922. When Hayes took office, Arbuckle’s second trial was just beginning. The nation followed the story closely, and before the comedian was finally acquitted (with a jury apology), Hayes kicked Arbuckle out of the industry. The move showed industry skeptics that Hayes was serious about keeping the industry clean. Adolph Zukor, head of Famous Players-Lasky (soon to become Paramount), canceled future Arbuckle projects and suffered a loss of $500,000. The industry has distanced itself from problematic advertising, as has happened many times over the past century.

In late 1922, Hayes offered Arbuckle a comeback tour. It was too late, the court of public opinion decided the case. Theater owners feared that the 1990s at Arbuckle would lose the public trust it had won since Hayes’ appointment. The American cinema owners issued a statement arguing that “no official action can determine public opinion on the matter”.

Hayes proposed a thirteen-point settlement that included the removal of explicit sexuality, prostitution, arrogant depictions of addiction, passionate love scenes, mockery of government or religion, and all lewd publicity from the films. But there was no shortage of scandalous material for Hayes in the 1920s. Wallace Reid’s drug bust made a public relations story difficult but manageable. However, when stars like Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson and Clara Bow flaunted their sexuality in front of customers all over the world, it would lead to another series of social upheavals. Others condemn the arrival in Hollywood of sex-romance author Eleanor Glynn Three weeks (1907) and the future inventor of Clara Bow’s The (1927).

For some American consumers, movies were nothing more than a product of Babylon. By the end of the decade, it became clear that filmmakers did not practice self-censorship. In 1927, a prominent list of do’s and don’ts was added. Even publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst pushed for film censorship. In 1930, an official production code was added. Three main principles were emphasized: cinema should be seen as entertainment, important as an art form and have moral obligations.

However, none of these added provisions, along with related lengthy statutes, were any better observed than Hayes’s original thirteen points. The years 1930-1934 were hailed by fans as the last “pre-Code” years, when filmmakers flourished with stories that violated every aspect of the Production Code. The so-called “fallen woman” films (Divorced), gangster photos (a scarred face), sex-filled musicals (1933 prospectors), sex comedies (was wrong), depression pictures (Wild boys for the road) and everything else managed today.

In the years before the Code, new forces emerged to reverse Hollywood’s gratuitous approach to lewd content. Studies by the Payne Foundation have begun (unsuccessfully) to link the rise in juvenile delinquency to Hollywood movies. Each study was published, and an abstract and defense volume was published as the book by Henry James Forman. Children raised by our films (1933). Forman’s book became a bestseller, warning studio moguls that society was about to be lost again. The Great Depression hit the studios. Even those in better shape in the late 1920s felt the effects of the Depression of 1933. No one in Hollywood was risking ticket sales.

At the same time, the Catholic Legion of Decency fought the dangers of cinema and even made the Legion promise that congregations would come out of their nests. “I make this protest in a spirit of self-respect,” the pledge reads, “and in the belief that the American public does not demand dirty photos, but clean entertainment.” The social and political winds were blowing hard in the film industry. It is time to take another big step, as the previous decade did not offer a coherent response to social reformers.

Joseph Breen, an Irish Catholic who worked as a journalist for the US Foreign Service and the 28th International Eucharistic Congress, responded to public concerns. It was at the Chicago Eucharistic Congress in the summer of 1926 that he demonstrated the power of the Catholic Church in the United States. Catholics moved from the fringes to the mainstream and by 1933 they were a significant social and political force. The Legion of Decency also maintained its own rating system and was never afraid to condemn a film that didn’t live up to its standards. This was the crowd Hollywood needed to appease.

A Gossipify headline from January 1934.

Hayes hired Breen as code enforcer, a position he held from 1934 to 1954 (with a brief stint at RKO in 1941). Minus a gentlemen’s agreement and a more complex negotiation process, the Production Code influenced the content of films and satisfied many anti-Hollywood activists for nearly two decades. Films will now be required to meet industry standards as no film will be released without the administrative seal of production code.

By late 1934, newspapers across the country were celebrating Hollywood’s new direction. The cinematic herald Print praise from the press that “reflects the public’s appreciation for a first-class product”, showing that the new restrictions have led to greater public participation.

The early years of the Motion Picture Association (as the MPPDA) set the standard for the industry’s response to contemporary mores. Hiring a political expert was a movement in 1922, and by the early 1930s, the industry needed to respond to growing boycotts of churches. Breen allowed the industry to create a product that “satisfies the ministers of the church midway.” The social and political winds driven by society, highlighted by Will Hayes’ fourth global professorship, will always be the main focus of Hollywood activity.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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