Films currently have a rating system that establishes what age group is appropriate to watch the film that’s being screened. However, there was a time where people were able to watch whatever film they wanted despite their age. But that was a different time, an influential time for film. Censorship existed still it wasn’t till the Production Code Administration was created when they actually started enforcing the Code thus ending the Pre-Code Era.
In order to understand how the government was able to legally deny films their first amendment one must understand where it all began. Before the start of the Pre-Code Era, there was a trial that influenced many of the censorship rules and regulations. In 1915, the Mutual Film Corporation Appellant …show more content…
It was time before filmmakers were able to express their ideas without censorship. What made these films so interesting is that they provided the audience with something real and relatable especially during the Great Depression. Female characters were seen to be empowering and independent. However, they were usually categorized as either “the bad girl or fallen woman” (Wiki). In the film Baby Face directed by Alfred E.Green with leading actress Barbara Stanwyck playing Lily. Lily was the type of girl that would be disrespected by men yet she would continue to sleep with them. However, she meets a guy and he explains to her that she has to stop letting men walk all over her. But instead, she should be the one doing the walking not them. In another film, Christopher Strong directed by Dorothy Arzner with Katharine Hepburn playing Lady Cynthia Darrington. In the film, Darrington commits suicide after breaking the world record of reaching the highest altitude with her plane. And it the story it’s revealed that she committed suicide because she was pregnant with a married man’s baby. The inner struggles of these characters were real and made it easier to relate to them in a sense instead of having the women being portrayed as they depend on their husbands. It was common to have strong female roles. Yet now strong leading female character’s are hard to find because sometimes the story would suggest she would be better off if a man was by her side which isn’t always
In order to understand how the government was able to legally deny films their first amendment one must understand where it all began. Before the start of the Pre-Code Era, there was a trial that influenced many of the censorship rules and regulations. In 1915, the Mutual Film Corporation Appellant …show more content…
It was time before filmmakers were able to express their ideas without censorship. What made these films so interesting is that they provided the audience with something real and relatable especially during the Great Depression. Female characters were seen to be empowering and independent. However, they were usually categorized as either “the bad girl or fallen woman” (Wiki). In the film Baby Face directed by Alfred E.Green with leading actress Barbara Stanwyck playing Lily. Lily was the type of girl that would be disrespected by men yet she would continue to sleep with them. However, she meets a guy and he explains to her that she has to stop letting men walk all over her. But instead, she should be the one doing the walking not them. In another film, Christopher Strong directed by Dorothy Arzner with Katharine Hepburn playing Lady Cynthia Darrington. In the film, Darrington commits suicide after breaking the world record of reaching the highest altitude with her plane. And it the story it’s revealed that she committed suicide because she was pregnant with a married man’s baby. The inner struggles of these characters were real and made it easier to relate to them in a sense instead of having the women being portrayed as they depend on their husbands. It was common to have strong female roles. Yet now strong leading female character’s are hard to find because sometimes the story would suggest she would be better off if a man was by her side which isn’t always