In the late eighties the Italian film "Cinema Paradiso" depicted a young boy who loved movies who grows up to be a famous director. In the main character's youth, a priest would ring a bell at 'objectionable' scenes or dialogue and the projectionist would edit the film accordingly. As time went by the standards were relaxed and eventually almost anything could be shown. According to Wikipedia, in America, around the beginning of the 20eth century, the Hays Code resulted in "self-censorship" [from Wikipedia]. The Hays Code was apparently not government enforced, but was related to Catholic ideology and the so-called "Catholic Legion of Decency" [from Wikipedia] (a forerunner of the Religious Right and the so-called Moral Majority). Eventually the influence of these Catholic prudes waned and was replaced by the rating system of the "Motion Picture Association of America". [Wikipedia] (the MPAA) with their G, GP, PG, PG-13, uncopyrighted X, and NC-17 ratings. Unfortunately, "Showgirls" and other movies released with an NC-17 rating suffered box office oblivion. Ratings systems, whether religious or government enforced, have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and self-expression for artists, writers, viewers and listeners.
[The original version of this essay first appeared in Eastern Connecticut State University's Campus Lantern student newspaper in the early '90s and as part of my unpublished manuscript "In Mediocrity We Trust... In Debt We Die" And Other Essays.]
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