Thursday, 19 June 2014

Pre-Code Hollywood and certification


Pre-Code Hollywood and certification nowadays

The Story of Temple Drake (Miriam Hopkins 1933) The first real sex-symbol? violence, rape and exploitation.
 Jezebel (Bette Davis 1938) the role of women, unacceptable actions in society.
  •  1930s Hollywood, how far was too far?
Films such as these were allowed to be made due to cinema being popular (or considered to be so) only by the lower classes. Theatre was for the upper classes and those would remain separate. This meant that films of the 30s adopted the phrase 'anything goes' and the audiences became accustom to such sights; however when cinema started to appeal to the upper classes and famous faces from the stage wanted 'in on the deal' these 'sights' were considered appalling, hence the activation of the Hayes Code.

Certification nowadays, why is everything branded 12A- for the money? a bigger audience?
Casino Royal (remake 2006) the torture scene- specific textual analysis. 
This scene caused uproar due to being branded suitable for those aged 12 and with an adult, however the scene clearly shows partial nudity, torture and some mild language; this therefore conveys how high concept movies and studios will bend the rules in order to bring in a higher profit and wider audience.

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1 comment:

  1. Andy Hampson23 June 2014 at 01:19

    Nice idea this, very wide focus which is great. You could focus on the role of women in pre code ie more freedom and then compare to the high concept movie where women were mostly in secondary roles. Or how newer HC films have maintained a pre code standard for women. Why not start investigating the code and its impact on film studios

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