Movie Censorship Essay

Movie Censorship
The world is evolving and movie censorship regulations need to change as the world does. During the filming of “Guys and Dolls” in 1955, the Legion of Decency denounced the film for using the expression “What the hell?” (Boland). It was determined that the standards and guidelines of that time were unreasonable and therefore, lowered. Similarly, in our nation today, movie censorship limitations are excessive and should minimize. Film is an art form that was brought upon by the industrial revolution, a movement which finally made movies possible through great progressions in technology and production (“The History of Hollywood Censorship and the Ratings System”). “Censorship, the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive"” (“What Is Censorship?”). Maine passed the original censorship law concerning films in 1897 due to the controversial issue of boxing (“History of Censorship in the U.S.A”). Subsequently, the authority to give or reject movie certifications was given to the chief of police in Chicago in 1907, making this the first city to practice movie censorship (“Film Censorship, Noteworthy Moments In History”). Eventually, a Production Code Administration was set forth, which condemned films that did not support the sacredness of marriage, used vulgarity, had racial

They declared that the phrase “innocence of youth” was the standard by which movies could be deemed inappropriate. Nevertheless, a man by the name of Hicklin raised many troubling questions concerning the case, such as, whether or not adults should be capable of reviewing adult material, exactly when a person becomes an adult, should adult material be banned because a child might see it, and whether someone could know what would bring impure thoughts to a child (Routier). Similarly, these questions could be asked of the people who establish the ratings on movies