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

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I’m a writer, and I’m glad the days of such broad censorship are largely over. The trouble with things like the Production Code are that they tend to be one size fits all, with no concern for artistic merit or how something is depicted. The violence in Schindler’s List is not the same as that in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And yet, both movies would have been banned under the old rules. People will abuse their freedom, but that doesn’t make the freedom a bad thing in the slightest. And then you have the practical matter that different things will scandalize different people. Who decides?
 
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I use the Production Code as my standard for writing. As a working editor, most of the manuscripts I see are just bad - bad writing and some immoral, inappropriate scenes. Art is not a get out of jail free card. I know people in Hollywood. Even fiction has some issue advocacy. Either the studio wants it or all parties involved want it. And there is still a movie review board. “Look, if you keep that scene in, we’re taking it from PG-13 to an R.” Then, in some cases, the Producer gets into a negotiation: “Can I cut it to 10 seconds?” No. “How about 5 seconds?” No. Usually, the Producer wants to show a female body part that is usually covered. He knows if he gets an R rating that his chances of making more money usually diminish, so his art gets cut. There are people who decide.

There is a huge difference between historical accuracy and killing dozens of people and adding buckets of blood just because you can. When killing people becomes “eh” then a person should avoid such movies or TV shows.
 
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edwest211 said:
Too many TV shows and movies include “issue advocacy.” This is promotion of lifestyles and behaviors that studios and Producers want in there. The more ‘bad’ people are exposed to, the less sensitive people become to sin and immoral and dysfunctional living. Then it becomes: “Hey. What’s the big deal?”
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This. All this. I couldn’t agree more.
 
There’s a new show coming out now about a divorced couple and the silliness that comes with living together and dating other people. Comedy has stooped to a new low. Even divorce is hilarious apparently. Maybe not so much for those who were a product of it…
 
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Westworld is a good example of portraying situations where persons have the opportunity to do what they want with no consequences. A show to avoid.

People involved in telling stories through various media are now ignoring selling the product by putting their names at the top. I don’t care to see: Bob, Fred and Jim at the top of a comic book or game box. They have earned exactly zero. Their blatant self-promotion means nothing to me. It’s like seeing a movie poster from the period: “George Lucas’ Star Wars.” I call this the ‘fanboy delusion.’ I’m somebody before I actually earn the title ‘somebody.’

And too many fanboys have taken the route of “I’ve got an ebook or self-published book, and if I sell a few, I’m a professional.” No. Writing is a skill, a craft. There are certain foundational elements. It usually takes years to master the craft. I know this is true. Even Creative Writing classes rarely tackle ‘character development,’ pacing, atmosphere and other essentials. Research is required for fiction as well. Sure, you can make up some things but the dialogue has to sound realistic, the setting, even in outer space, needs to sound plausible, etc. The learning curve will never go away. Movie scripts require a type of formatting not used in fiction books.
 
commenter said:
In night clubs, whenever some comedians ran out of good ideas they would simply switch to something sexual, to get a cheap laugh. But the availability of this “substitute” for good ideas caused many of them to stop working to come up with good ideas. The substitute became the norm.
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Truer words have never been spoken. The contrast between just the last twenty years is evidence of this. To cite two examples. In the movie “My Cousin Vinnie” there is a scene of foreplay done marvelously and in a funny manner. It is an argument over a dripping faucet. That is marvelous writing to show something using a totally unconventional method. Fast forward to season 7 of Game of Thrones. In it Jon Snow knocks on Queen Danny’s door and enters. They are going to end up in bed. Instead of showing a bit of dialogue and maybe a shot of Danny’s robe dropping to the floor seen only from her knees on down, the producers opted for a scene of two in bed engaging in “lovemaking”. Instead of the creative as in MCV, we get the “in your face” of GOT. I’m no prude, I’m not offended by GOT, it just that I have to agree with commenter that cheap exploitation and titillation has become, sadly, the norm.
 
Which is why I see one, maybe two movies a year, and only watch a little TV. Some of that TV watching is to know firsthand, how far Hollywood is sinking and warn people about it. Most TV does not fall into the ‘norm’ category for me. Too much bad behavior is depicted as average, common and ‘normal.’ I refuse to be swayed by that or accept it as anything but wrong.
 
When I reconsider this, maybe I am overstating the case,
but some TV shows have an anti-Catholic view.
 
The problem I have with Runaways is that they have characters that are supposed to be underage engaging in sexual acts (both heterosexual & homosexual).

Hollywood should avoid teen sex
 
jtavington said:
I’m a writer, and I’m glad the days of such broad censorship are largely over. The trouble with things like the Production Code are that they tend to be one size fits all, with no concern for artistic merit or how something is depicted. The violence in Schindler’s List is not the same as that in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And yet, both movies would have been banned under the old rules.
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Schindler’s List would not have been banned under the old rules. It showed the value of good trying to struggle against evil. If there were any scenes with gratuitous visible violence or sex, they would have been re written slightly to meet the code. It would not have made the movie any weaker. (Obviously violence is part of any movie about this topic, but gratuitous visible violence was and is not necessary).

The code primarily opposed gratuitous imagery, unrelated to the necessity of the plot. But more important was that there is a “Good”, and usually an “Evil”, and usually shades in between. “Good” did not always win, but “Good” was always shown to be worthy of winning, worthy of fighting for. Individuals could, and sometimes did, become more “Good”. Hope was possible in the Code movies, usually absent in current movies.
 
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Some say we are better off without restrictions. But we do have restrictions now, bad ones. There are many types of movies that were made under the code, recognized then and now as excellent, that could not be made today in any major Hollywood studio.

The proof of that is in the fact that movies like that are rarely being made now. Remakes are almost always a pale version of the original. Movies today will not - can not - address some matters as well as the Code movies. The restrictions may be more subtle, more indirect, but they are definitely there, and limiting.
 
As long as people pay the money at the theater, streaming service or other, Hollywood doesn’t care much. Keep it cheap, or buy the rights cheap, and if it’s a flop, blame the screenwriter. Hollywood also likes to play copycat. If a particular genre is hot - they look into their script files and - as long as it can be made on the cheap - will put out something. Even if whatever it is ends up in one of those vending machines less than a year later.

Limits are a must. There is no way around that. Sure, independent movies get made. That’s why I prefer old movies: no cussing and swearing, actual character development, little to no reliance on special effects and the feeling of being taken to another time or place and just the good feeling I get after seeing a well-told story.
 
I worked in a hospital for over 9 years. I saw death, real death. No bloody, gory TV or movie depiction comes close. You are not “there.” You are detached because you know these actors are not really dying, no matter how realistic it looks. What should really bother people is people killing others with no sign of remorse, with no feelings. Another dead body is just like any other dead body. Life has no purpose. You see even the supposed good guys just kill and kill.
 
edwest211 said:
You are not “there.
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I’ve watched men die before. I know how it is, which is how I know that seeing it on TV doesn’t come close.

Years ago people grew up, grandparents died at home. Kids would see animals slaughtered for food.

Now, real death is hidden, few experience it. It’s been tucked away.
 
I don’t know. Turn on the evening news and it’s ‘death killing,’ death killing’ and various people who have been attacked, bleeding, laying on the ground. Photos of actual people who died. And family members, grieving.
 
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jtavington said:
I’m a writer, and I’m glad the days of such broad censorship are largely over.
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As a dad trying to pick movies to watch as a family I disagree. Movies used to be for the whole family to watch. It seems these days we have “family oriented” movies that are loaded with innuendo that kids may not (but probably do) recognize, that I really don’t want to see/hear either.
A good example is Jumanji 2. I enjoyed about 99% of it, but there were a couple of dialogues about body parts that I found objectionable. They didn’t add to the story and took away from my enjoyment of the movie.
 
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