Roger Ebert: Hey Kids! Anybody Here Not Heard the F-Word? ("Bully" Anti-Bullying Documentary & MPAA)

[MADem]

6. Well, the MPAA came out of Congress, actually--in a back-handed way !

Originally, the movie producers--who produced some right racy films before the days of "The Code" (you'd be shocked at some of the content of many of those rarely viewed gems)--came up with a standard to PREVENT Congress from censoring them. They believed (rightfully, IMO) that the censorship of Congress would be far WORSE.

Can you imagine what would have happened to Michael Moore's films during the Bush Administration, for example? Triple X ratings all round! The politicization of films would be a very real possibility if we had Congress deciding what films were good, what words were good, what ideas were good.

The way our government works, we'd never have a federal referendum on the words that can or cannot be said on film--that just is not a viable construct. Congress makes law, and all that.

The studio owners cleverly figured if they jumped in front of the issue, Congress wouldn't start getting up in their business. They also weren't stupid--they have always given the job to a DC insider who can keep the censorship advocates from Congress at bay (Postmaster General Hayes was the first one; the current holder of the job is Countrywide Chris Dodd, former Democratic Senator from CT). It's a fascinating evolution: http://www.mpaa.org/about/history

In 1922, the presidents of the major motion picture studios, including Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer, Jesse Lasky and Joseph Schenck, formed the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association of America to resist mounting calls for government censorship of American films. In addition, the founders of the organization wanted to foster a more favorable public image for the motion picture industry and to safeguard the role of then-silent films’ place in mainstream America.

Former Postmaster General William Hays, a member of President Harding's Cabinet, led the organization and instituted initiatives to forestall government interference in filmmaking. He oversaw the creation of a system of industry-led self-censorship, known as The Production Code or the Hays Code, a regime requiring the review of all film scripts to ensure the absence of "offensive" material.

...In the late 1960s our nation was changing, and so was its cinema. Alongside the progress of the civil rights, women's rights and labor movements, a new kind of American film was emerging - frank and open. Amid our society's expanding freedoms, the movie industry's restrictive regime of self-censorship could not stand. In 1966, former Special Assistant to President Lyndon Johnson, Jack Valenti, was named MPAA President. That same year, sweeping revisions were made to the Hays Code to reflect changing social mores. In 1968, Jack Valenti, who went on to hold the position for 38 years, founded the voluntary film rating system giving creative and artistic freedoms to filmmakers while fulfilling its core purpose of informing parents about the content of films so they can determine what movies are appropriate for their kids. More than forty years later, the system continues to evolve with our society and endures as a shining symbol of American freedom of expression.

Following Jack Valenti's retirement in 2004, former Kansas Congressman and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman was selected as MPAA Chairman and CEO. Glickman, who held the post until the Spring of 2010, led the association during a period of significant industry transformation. While the advent of the digital era created extraordinary new opportunities for delivering movies to consumers, it also give rise to the most serious threat to the industry's continued health - online copyright theft. ...