Vox video "How the Catholic Church censored Hollywood's Golden Age"

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Anti-Catholic nonsense. Catholics never ran the movie business. The Motion Picture Code was actually the best thing that ever happened to the movie business. It made movies acceptable to all Americans in a way that they had not been before.
 
We HAVE to censor movies, they are propaganda for
an immoral and secular world view.
MGM has a clip at the start of each movie in which a
roaring lion is depicted… the Bible says: “the DEVIL
prowls around like a ROARING LION… resist him
therefore, firm in your Faith…” 1 Pet. 5:8
 
It wasn’t the Church. The Legion of Decency was not supported or endorsed by the Church in any way.

Catholic people not The Catholic Church
 
Too bad we don’t have this going on today with all of the insanely realistic violence and gore being churned out of Hollywood. You don’t think that desensitizes people to violence?
 
And somehow it was still Hollywood’s “Golden Age”.

No one’s really considered that the “censorship” might have contributed to the quality of film during that time?

Too bad the claim is false, that the Church censored movies. Perhaps she should have and be credited for it.

Today, with very little discretion on sexuality and violence, there’s very little today we can consider “quality” cinema. I’ve long tuned out that political gongshow called the Oscars for that reason, among others.
 
Did you watch the video? Leftists view the Hollywood Production Code as censorship, and thus a Very Bad Thing. This video blames the Production Code on the Catholic Church, incorrectly, from an historical point of view.
 
GLam1761 said:
MGM has a clip at the start of each movie in which a

roaring lion is depicted… the Bible says: “the DEVIL

prowls around like a ROARING LION… resist him

therefore, firm in your Faith…” 1 Pet. 5:8
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It is a trademark and not the devil in my opinion.
 
They will walk after the LORD, He will roar like a lion; Indeed He will roar And His sons will come trembling from the west.

Hosea 11:10

That’s the problem- Biblical literalism leads to self-contradictory statements
 
Maximilian75 said:
It wasn’t the Church. The Legion of Decency was not supported or endorsed by the Church in any way.

Catholic people not The Catholic Church
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No, the bishops DID endorse the Legion of Decency. They helped bring it about. Every parish, once a year, would have people at Mass recite the Legion of Decency pledge. Without the bishops, there might have been a thousand little legions, disagreeing with each other half the time, competing for attention; with far less clout than the single, bishops- endorsed Legion. Without the bishops, no Legion of Decency.

The Legion was endorsed by others, for example Evangelicals in the South, but was primarily a Catholic movement. It is a classic example of lay apostolate. I have heard too many talks and read too many articles about how the Catholic laity were passive prior to Vatican II. The reality is that Catholic laity were much more active in the decades before Vatican II than since then, in bringing gospel values into mainstream society.

If Catholic laity were as active now as they were before Vatican II, abortion would not have been legalized in the US. Today there is some good lay apostolate; there is other lay apostolate that seems dominated by the secular media, especially around Peace and Justice issues; and there are other lone ranger lay apostolates, claiming to be traditional, that are locked into an adversarial relationship with the pope and bishops.

Some lay apostolates today are carelessly ecumenical, others are anti-ecumenical.

The Legion of Decency was very much laity united with the bishops; (no lone rangers); independent of the secular media for direction; and realistically cooperative with like minded Protestants and Jews.
 
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I’ve had this same thought–
Yes, it’s true that there were standards and guidelines the motion picture industry had to follow, but they made amazing beautiful films that everyone in the family could see.
And they did address some tough themes.

I don’t think we do all that great addressing the bigger issues in our everything-goes filmmaking.

And weirdly, nowadays, the more family friendly films do better at the box office.

I remember when Star Wars came out, and there was no sex, nudity or violence, and commentators were astonished at how well it did…
 
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
I don’t think we do all that great addressing the bigger issues in our everything-goes filmmaking.
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I honestly tend to enjoy older movies and shows for this reason. Take the Twilight Zone. It worked within the “limits” of the decency code, but managed to tells stories that are still provocative and relevant to today’s world, and still far more captivating to watch than a lot of what’s on TV now.

Bad writers use sex as a crutch to maintain viewers while not offering anything substantial to make them think. Add to that the pervasive cursing that makes up the majority of certain shows’ dialog (I’m look at you, Suits…), and the picture for American cinema / television is far more lacking than when these codes were enforced.
 
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I regret that decency has become so little regarded that few are left who are willing to stand up for it.
 
ProdglArchitect said:
I honestly tend to enjoy older movies and shows for this reason. Take the Twilight Zone. It worked within the “limits” of the decency code, but managed to tells stories that are still provocative and relevant to today’s world, and still far more captivating to watch than a lot of what’s on TV now.
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Rod Serling…the under-celebrated genius of moral commentary and allegory.

Right up there with Gene Roddenberry when one knows what one is watching.
 
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Prior to the Legion of Decency, there were countless little independent initiatives, developed by Catholics and other citizens, during the silent movies and early talkies. These spontaneous initiatives had a little impact here, a different impact there, no impact somewhere else. They would be strong in one city, or in one year, but lapse the next year, or be inconsistent with the next city. The little “mini-legions” were well intended, but not that effective. Hollywood already had a code before the Legion of Decency, which had more holes than swiss cheese.

It was the coordinated effort of the SINGLE Legion of Decency that brought about the effective, 1934 Code, and assured ongoing attention to it, for decades. The Legion’s reviews of movies were hung up on bulletin boards in Catholic Churches and schools. It was the coordination of laity with pastors, local bishop, and the bishops nationally. But it was not just having a written code, it was ongoing COORDINATED vigilance.

The Legion, and the administration of the Code, were not exactly identical, but close enough to ensure that the great majority of time movies were not harmful.
 
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If you watched the video, you would note it’s mostly trying to cast the Catholic Church in a bad light regarding censorship, which is ironic coming from VOX and their pro-SJW stances.
nightshade said:
Too bad we don’t have this going on today with all of the insanely realistic violence and gore being churned out of Hollywood. You don’t think that desensitizes people to violence?
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People need to not watch or go to movies and they’ll stop making them.
 
Well, Jim, that sure sounds good on paper but all it takes for people to concede is for them to realize (1) they can’t vote Democrat/Labour/Liberal anymore (2) they’ll look prude on Facebook, at Thanksgiving or in the faculty lounge (3) it may mean they get less “free” stuff.

As you can see, the buck pretty much stops there and the lame excuses descend upon us like Valkyries.

That’s why they are able to do what they do!
 
Was it the Samurai sword or the one with the WWII flashbacks and Leonard Nimoy?

They show the former all the time here on marathons. It’s one of my favorites, and you are right - it is deep.

It was on the most recent NYD marathon on the SciFy channel.
 
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