HPC vs Contemporary rating system

            The enforcement of the Hollywood production code was an unfair way to censor movies and movie makers. In some ways, the Hollywood production code was an obstruction of the first amendment rights of movie makers. The Motion Picture Production Code was the set of industry moral censorship guidelines that governed the production of the majority of  motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1930 to 1968. The Production Code explained what was acceptable and what was unacceptable to put in movies. The Contemporary rating system is much fairer that the Hollywood production code because it gives the viewer a chance to make the decision for themselves, and it allows movie makers to exercise their first amendment rights.

            In 1934 the HPC was officially enforced, and in the code contained unfair rules that censored filmmakers, and obstructed their first amendment rights. Some rules of the HPC were even violations of our civil rights. For example, one rule of the HPC is that motion pictures can’t depict relationships between people of different races or between people of the same sex. I think it is fair to say that these rules discriminated against people of different races, and homosexuals. Films were only allowed to show heterosexual same race couples, and the exclusion of these people sent the message to the American movie viewers that these relationships don’t really exist, and if they do, then they are somehow wrong or unacceptable. Homosexual imagery was rarely acknowledged in early American cinema, but when it was acknowledged, homosexuals and gender benders were suggested as being villainous, murderous and psychotic. In fact, in classical Hollywood horror films, the villain is usually most frightening because they are non white, non straight, and non male dominant. For example, the movie Dracula (1931) depicted vampires who preyed on men and women, and their attacks are usually in the form of seduction or rape. Homosexuality was also suggested to be a sickness in early film and media. For example, in the play “Tea and Sympathy” the male character struggles with repressed homosexual feelings. The play concludes with the heterosexual myth that a great woman can fix a gay man with her charms.

            The contemporary rating system is not flawless, but it is fairer because it allows the filmmaker to express his opinions and beliefs, even if it may be different from the norms of society. Consider the movie Jungle Fever (1991). The movie depicts a black man who has a sexual love affair with an Italian woman. Although each family disagrees with the interracial relationship, true love could not keep the two lovers away from each other. Under the HPC, this movie would not have been allowed, but in today’s society, the movie received a rating of R, which means that “Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian. These films may contain mild or implied sex scenes, prolonged nudity, strong violence often with blood and gore, strong horror scenes and explicit/illegal/prolonged drug use. A movie rated R for profanity often has more severe or frequent swearing than the PG-13 rating would permit. An R-rated movie may have more blood, gore, drug use, nudity, or graphic sexuality than a PG-13 movie would permit. Some R-rated films have an "unrated" DVD release with scenes of violence, sexual material, or profanity that have been edited from the original cut.” The contemporary rating system does not ban movies, but it warns the viewers of the reasons why a specific film has been rated in a specific way, and it gives the movie goer the chance to decide for themself. The filmmakers still have the right to express their views and opinions in the contemporary rating system without their movies being banned, even if they are radical, extreme, and offensive. The first amendment should protect our rights to freedom of speech, even if it is different from the social normality.

 "The Big Screen Cinema Guide." Mpaa ratings information. MPAA, 1995. Web. 19 Feb 2012. http://www.bigscreen.com/MPAA_RatingsInfo.php.

Hayes, David P.. "The Motion Picture Production Code." The Motion Picture Production Code. N.p., 2009. Web. 19 Feb 2012. <http://productioncode.dhwritings.com/multipleframes_productioncode.php>.