The Hollywood Hays Code: Making America Moral Again?

From 1934 to 1968, a rigid code of moralist conformity hung over every single movie produced in Hollywood during this time, stemming from a 1915 Supreme Court case that essentially held that the "new" form of media, motion pictures, was not "speech" and therefore was unprotected by the 1st Amendment.  Movie studios scrambled to respond to a pushback against the wildness of the "Roaring '20s" and adopted The Hays Code "voluntarily" to make sure their movies could have the widest possible audience, and therefore make the most amount of money.  

 

Join the Rebeccas as they dive into the interplay of Hollywood and American culture, and how that culture came to be dominated by one particular viewpoint about how society "should" be as determined by the Hays Code, and how the disparity between that and the reality of the counterculture that arose during the '50s and '60s, in addition to foreign competition from films without this code, would ultimately lead to its demise. 

***PLEASE NOTE: Some of the audio for Becca is really poor, which, combined with several family hospital stays this summer, has lead to our longer-than-intended hiatus, and is part of the reason why this episode is so late.  We tried to find time to redo, but just couldn't. However, the content of this pod is so important and relatively unknown, we decided to release "as is". We will be back soon with better audio quality AND ELECTION-THEMED EPISODES to help close out 2024!***

 

Comments or Questions? Or have an idea for future episodes - #pitchtothepod? Email us tourguidetellall@gmail.com

 

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Want more information? We found theses sources to be accessible and helpful:

• NPR, Remembering Hollywood’s Hays Code, 40 Years On 
• PBS, Hollywood Censored: The Production Code
• Betty Boop Fan Club (comparing pre and post code Boop)
• How to Find Pre-Code Movies

 

 

You’re Listening To: Rebecca Fachner and Rebecca Grawl

The Person Responsible for it Sounding Good: Dan King

Technical & Admin Work Done During Toddler Naptime: Canden Arciniega

Intro/Outro Music: Well-Seasoned from Audio Hero