Should Movies Be Censored?

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Charlemagne_II

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One of the salutary effects of the Catholic Church on American society was its influence with Hollywood during the period of the 1930s through the 1960s. By virtue of the Hays Office, censorship was widely approved and practiced with the success of many great films and careers flowing from that censorship. During that period many films were produced that treated Catholics and the Church with respect and admiration. But since the 1960s, through the influence of liberal individuals and groups, there has been a slow but steady erosion of censorship until virtually everything is allowed to be depicted in vivid detail. We are supposed to be entertained by stories of rape, necrophilia, bestiality, sodomy, fornication, incest, adultery, and cannibalism. Since the values of the Catholic Church were kicked out of Hollywood, with only several exceptions, there has hardly been a single movie made about the Catholic Church that has not been satirical or denigrating. Expect this assault on Catholic values to continue unabated and worsening in the decades ahead.

Will Hollywood ever clean up its Act? What do you think are the chances that it will, or rather that it will continue to break new ground in decadence?
 
I remember watching “Superbad” with my sister a few years ago. I do not watch a lot of movies, rarely ever modern comedies, so it was the first exposure I had to one of the newer comedy films out there.

I became almost physically ill watching it. I eventually just tried to keep my attention on other things, even though my sister told me I was too “sensitive”. She found the film very funny. I thought it was horribly disgusting. So I can’t prove that such material desensitizes you over time, but I know that, having not seen and heard such jokes before, I was certainly “sensitive” to it.
 
I really do hate the idea of censorship, but in today’s amoral society, I think we need it. The problem is, who can we trust to do the censoring? One person’s idea of smut, is another’s fine art.
 
boomerang said:
I really do hate the idea of censorship, but in today’s amoral society, I think we need it. The problem is, who can we trust to do the censoring? One person’s idea of smut, is another’s fine art.
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This is the big problem. In such a morally, philosophically, and culturally mixed nation like this, censorship is a problem because virtue is not a widely agreed on term. For example, I wouldn’t want atheists in charge of censoring films, because they may decide to keep out all religious content. So in such a mixed society, the safest bet may be to keep the decisions in the hands of the parents.
 
It’s up to parents, older siblings, and other REAL role models to teach right and wrong to kids/teens/etc…

Honestly, do we need government/big brother telling us what we need to/can/should watch? If the consumers lose their taste for films like Superbad, Hollywood won’t make them. We need to take responsability for our own selves, and not wait for others to babysit us. If we don’t know enough to stay away from bad stuff, and don’t know enough to educate others, we have bigger problems than Hollywood turning out smutty movies.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
One of the salutary effects of the Catholic Church on American society was its influence with Hollywood during the period of the 1930s through the 1960s. By virtue of the Hays Office, censorship was widely approved and practiced with the success of many great films and careers flowing from that censorship. During that period many films were produced that treated Catholics and the Church with respect and admiration. But since the 1960s, through the influence of liberal individuals and groups, there has been a slow but steady erosion of censorship until virtually everything is allowed to be depicted in vivid detail. We are supposed to be entertained by stories of rape, necrophilia, bestiality, sodomy, fornication, incest, adultery, and cannibalism. Since the values of the Catholic Church were kicked out of Hollywood, with only several exceptions, there has hardly been a single movie made about the Catholic Church that has not been satirical or denigrating. Expect this assault on Catholic values to continue unabated and worsening in the decades ahead.

Will Hollywood ever clean up its Act? What do you think are the chances that it will, or rather that it will continue to break new ground in decadence?
Click to expand...
When I was a boy, back in the 1940’s, The Leagon of Decency ratings were preached from the pulpit and were the subject of many a sermon.
I distinctly remember when the movie “The Outlaw” starring Jane Russel came out and our Pastor (a Jesuit) delivered a fire and brimstone sermon against it! Of course as kids, none of us could go because the theater wouldn’t admit us to such a film, but I am sure a lot of men went, titilated by the pastors objection!
I think today that many priests do not preach against any film, book, or TV show for that very reason. They do not want to publicize such things.
The problem with censoring anything in the US is that censorship is against the 1st
amendment of our Constitution…Freedom of Speech. And the danger of tampering with anything in the Bill of Rights is that if you lose one freedom, the rest are not too far behind.
Just look at the current regimes assault of the Freedom of Religion with Obamacare, where although Churches are exempt from manditory provision of Contraception and Abortion, Catholic Hospitals, Schools and other institutions are not. Neither are private businesses owned by people who have a moral objection of such thing.
Just look around you. The same powers that be are also trying to restrict the 2nd amendment by outlawing certain firearms not because of their function, but because they look scary! What do these powers that be think “Shall not be infringed” means?
My point is that once any part of the Bill of Rights is tampered with, other parts are not far behind. All of you should remember that any politician who wants to tamper with any provision of our Bill of Rights, or who actually does so should forfeit his right to hold public office.
 
I wait until movies come out on the cable channels (not HBO, things like the Turner channels). The bad stuff is edited out, and the bad language is looped with milder expressions.
 
It’s getting to be worse than the pre-code film industry. :sad_yes:
 
I’m sorry that in my first post I did not include more reference to the Hays Office (later the Breen Office). It was a Censorship Board that was agreed to by the motion picture industry and was not forced upon the industry by any government office. This is the kind of censorship I was referring to. By the way, in 1915 the Supreme Court had unanimously decided that the 1st Amendment did not apply to movies.

It seems that today the only kind of voluntary censorship that Hollywood provides from within its own ranks is to make sure that conservative themes are fairly well excluded from the movies, and that the mocking of religious values is not only not discouraged, but permitted and encouraged.
 
Timothy

Geez, what kind of movies are you watching?!?!?

I’m not into these movies. I guess you aren’t either. But I know they exist. 😉
 
This excerpt is from the 1915 unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court.

“ …the exhibition of moving pictures is a business, pure and simple, originated and conducted for profit … not to be regarded, nor intended to be regarded by the Ohio Constitution, we think, as part of the press of the country, or as organs of public opinion.”
 
I kind of like the idea when the Church would rate movies. Did they ban them? I think they did, but memory fails me. But it’s good to know what your Church thinks about certain movies. It also helps with selecting films for your children to view.
 
It scares me when people talk about censorship, because it’s just as easy to ban religious messages as it is to ban secular ones.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
One of the salutary effects of the Catholic Church on American society was its influence with Hollywood during the period of the 1930s through the 1960s. By virtue of the Hays Office, censorship was widely approved and practiced with the success of many great films and careers flowing from that censorship. During that period many films were produced that treated Catholics and the Church with respect and admiration. But since the 1960s, through the influence of liberal individuals and groups, there has been a slow but steady erosion of censorship until virtually everything is allowed to be depicted in vivid detail. We are supposed to be entertained by stories of rape, necrophilia, bestiality, sodomy, fornication, incest, adultery, and cannibalism. Since the values of the Catholic Church were kicked out of Hollywood, with only several exceptions, there has hardly been a single movie made about the Catholic Church that has not been satirical or denigrating. Expect this assault on Catholic values to continue unabated and worsening in the decades ahead.

Will Hollywood ever clean up its Act? What do you think are the chances that it will, or rather that it will continue to break new ground in decadence?
Click to expand...
As someone who has dealt directly with Hollywood, I know they have reached a point where even the most insensitive person is starting to tune them out. The antidote is appearing. We now have the Catholic Writers Guild:

www.catholicwritersguild.com who follow strict rules for accepting written material that compares with the Production (or Hays) Code very well.

Also, young Catholic filmmakers are emerging. One source:

jpcatholic.com/academics/academics.php

Oh yeah, they have their plans for more decadence but TV viewing among faithful Catholics is dropping. There are Catholics who are tired of movies where they have to turn their heads and then look back, hoping for some ‘good parts.’ TV has become soft porn.

Pray. Have hope. If enough good men do something, we can return to forms of entertainment suitable for the entire family.

Peace,
Ed
 
pollynova said:
It scares me when people talk about censorship, because it’s just as easy to ban religious messages as it is to ban secular ones.
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What are you afraid of? No Catholic needs permission from any outside source to produce clean and wholesome entertainment, and to have standards that are good for the soul.

Peace,
Ed
 
Ed

Pray. Have hope. If enough good men do something, we can return to forms of entertainment suitable for the entire family.

And this is surely tied in with our current campaign to evangelize the world! 👍
 
CaptBell800 said:
I remember watching “Superbad” with my sister a few years ago. I do not watch a lot of movies, rarely ever modern comedies, so it was the first exposure I had to one of the newer comedy films out there.

I became almost physically ill watching it. I eventually just tried to keep my attention on other things, even though my sister told me I was too “sensitive”. She found the film very funny. I thought it was horribly disgusting. So I can’t prove that such material desensitizes you over time, but I know that, having not seen and heard such jokes before, I was certainly “sensitive” to it.
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I can tell you as a media professional, that that was the plan. Starting in the 1970s, they showed a little bad, in the 80s, a little more, in the 90s, a little more.

The goal was to desensitize you to the idea of sin and a good, clean conscience. Your only choice, most of the time, today is the even more bad at the movies. I lived through it.

I watch only a little TV and see one or two movies a year. This year, it looks like only one.

I keep track of what Hollywood is doing as part of my job. We didn’t get from clean and wholesome to dirty, bloody and disgusting overnight. We were poisoned gradually.

Peace,
Ed
 
boomerang said:
I really do hate the idea of censorship, but in today’s amoral society, I think we need it. The problem is, who can we trust to do the censoring? One person’s idea of smut, is another’s fine art.
Click to expand...
Catholics are starting to create their own media, with Hays Code type standards. We need entertainment that does not offend our sensibilities and conforms to the goals of the Catholic Legion of Decency.

I’ve dealt with fine artists personally, and I understand their psychology. It is a fantasy world that does not communicate. Smut is smut. As Catholics, at least, we can define it, and let it go.

Peace,
Ed
 
rfournier103 said:
It’s up to parents, older siblings, and other REAL role models to teach right and wrong to kids/teens/etc…

Honestly, do we need government/big brother telling us what we need to/can/should watch? If the consumers lose their taste for films like Superbad, Hollywood won’t make them. We need to take responsability for our own selves, and not wait for others to babysit us. If we don’t know enough to stay away from bad stuff, and don’t know enough to educate others, we have bigger problems than Hollywood turning out smutty movies.
Click to expand...
Hollywood is the problem. They are part of society and know darn well what they’re doing. They bear a lot of the blame. They used to give us role models. Not anymore. They used to produce clean, wholesome films. Mostly, not anymore. We should take responsibility for ourselves? Fine. But Hollywood needs to get called out for sick, twisted movies as well. Out LOUD. Big time. And take their share of responsibility for feeding us garbage AS PART OF OUR SOCIETY.

Complain, politely.

fcc.gov/guides/obscenity-indecency-and-profanity

Peace,
Ed

It would be a huge mistake to think Hollywood has not dulled people to the realities of sin and they kept serving us junk. No, it’s not just about the money either. They love the bad they do.
 
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