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Teach PA History
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"Disapproved": Censorship of Film in Pennsylvania
Equipment & Supplies
  • Overhead projector and transparency
Procedures

Day One



Students should be shown Ramparts We Watch and asked to describe the scene. The teacher should lead a discussion about the image as an introduction to Pennsylvania and United States" attitudes toward film censorship from 1910 to 1960. Consider the following questions when examining the photo:

  • What do you see in this photograph?
    (banner advertisement for a film; PA Censor Board condemning the film)


  • What time period do you believe it is?
    (1940s based on fashion in the photograph)


  • Why do you think the film has been censored?
    (graphic content; scenes of blood, violence and warfare unfit for young viewers)


  • What concerns might a censorship board have in regards to displaying war brutality to an audience while the country is at war?
    (This film was produced in 1940, during the early years of World War II. The violence and graphic content may have been particularly offensive considering the fear or panic it could create in United States citizens as family members are being enlisted for World War II.)


  • Can you think of situations today where a similar scene might be repeated?
    (immediately after September 11; Iraq War)



Read students the background information on the creation of Pennsylvania's State Board of Censorship in 1911. This information can be found in the "Teacher Background" section (specifically see first five paragraphs). Do not go into banned subject matter listed in the Teacher Background section, as students will be creating their own lists.

Ask students to take out a sheet of paper and create two columns. Have them label the first column "Don'ts" and the second "Be Carefuls". If they were censoring films, what topics would they place under each column? Have them make their own censorship list. (Allow approximately 5 minutes.)

Next explain to students that this list was first created in 1927 by the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America. It was an early attempt to create a formal censorship code which was ultimately unsuccessful because–at this time–it was not enforceable. Distribute Student Handout 1-The Don'ts and Be Carefuls (1927) to the class. Students should use Student Worksheet 1-Source Analysis to analyze their source. When completed, have students report their findings as a whole-group discussion format.

Suggestions of discussion questions include:


  • Do any of the items on the 1927 list surprise you? (Allow for a variety of responses.)


  • Are there any items listed in the "Be Careful" list that you think should be in the "Don't" section, or vice-versa? Are there items you don't think should be on the list at all? Explain your reasoning. (Allow for open discussion.)


  • How did this list compare to the Don'ts and Be Careful list you created? (Foster open discussion. Answers will vary depending on the student's sense of ethics.)


  • Does this 1927 list reveal any characteristic about the society at the time? (For instance, miscegenation may show inherit racism despite code number eleven–"no willful offense to any nation, race or creed." "Don't" number one and number ten show an influence of religion…)


  • Do you think it is necessary to have a "code of ethics" for mass entertainment? Why or why not?


Students will then be divided into five groups in order to analyze specific sections of The Motion Picture Production Code (1930). Handouts will be given as follows:

  • Group One Student Handout 2-The Motion Picture Production Code (1930) Part 1

  • Group Two Student Handout 3-The Motion Picture Production Code (1930) Part 2

  • Group Three Student Handout 4-The Motion Picture Production Code (1930) Part 3

  • Group Four Student Handout 5-The Motion Picture Production Code (1930) Part 4

  • Group Five Student Handout 6-The Motion Picture Production Code (1930) Part 5


All students (Groups 2-5) will use Student Worksheet 2-Key Components to analyze their source except students in Group One. Group One will use Student Worksheet 3-Film Censorship Code. This can be completed for homework.

Day Two



Have students orally report some generalizations about their findings in each particular section of the Code. After groups have reported, lead a discussion with the following questions:


  • What were the objectives of the 1930s code of censorship? (…to ensure that the entertainment served to "improve the race, or at least, to recreate and rebuild human beings exhausted with the realities of life."…to eliminate entertainment which "lowers the whole living condition and moral ideals of a race." -from the General Principles/Part I of the Code)


  • In your opinion, were these objectives realistic for the time period? (Allow for individual response and explanation.)


  • What then, to people of this time period, was the definition of censorship? (…A guarding the morality of the masses. Other definitions can be suggested here as well.)


  • What is your definition of censorship? ( To see multiple perspectives of censorship you can link to a PBS website called Culture Shock exploring the issue of censorship. Who Decides? How and Why?: Definitions of Censorship offers a variety of definitions from multiple perspectives.


Now students will analyze specific film segments documented as banned or eliminated. If you feel your class does not have the maturity to view these, you may elect to skip this segment. The documents are discussed in the third and second to last paragraphs in the "Teacher Background" section. Have each group now analyze the image in 1938 Sunset Strip Case Poster by discussing the following questions. Remind them of the points they just discussed.


  • Would this film and poster be allowed under the 1930s censorship laws? (No.)


  • What specific parts of the code would you be able to use for or against it? (Part 4/"Dancing costumes cut to permit indecent actions or movements or to make possible during the dance indecent exposure, are wrong, especially when permitting: c. suggestion of nudity.)


  • What do you believe the Pennsylvania State Board of Censors might do? (Disapprove the advertisement poster.)


Provide students with 1938 Sunset Strip Case Eliminations and discuss based on their previous responses. Note the disapproval of the poster marked as part of this document.

Also distribute Pennsylvania State Board of Censors, Certificate of Censorship - Not Approved. to the class. The certificate shows the banning of the film Ecstasy in 1948. Ask the class to examine what sort of information is recorded on this document:
(Items include: the production company, number of reels of film, title of film, deposit fee, date when film was disapproved, reason for disapproval, signature of Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Censors).

Have students compare and contrast the 1930s Code with the revised code in 1968 using Student Handout 7-Motion Picture Rating System (1968) and the current rating code using Student Handout 8-Modern Motion Picture Ratings. Use the following questions to guide their discussion:


  • How would you now define censorship based on the 1968 and current rating systems?
    (A possible definition would be "the act of examining in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable to the general public.")


  • Is our modern-day motion picture rating system a form of censorship then? Why or why not?
    (One response could be: Our movie rating system is not a form of censorship. The crucial difference is that it there is not a group of people deciding and editing what material is seen by the viewer. Instead, ratings can be seen as an informational guide for viewers, and especially for parents, to decide what they watch. In short, the viewer's freedom of choice is maintained. On the other hand, a student might argue that ratings are still a form of censorship as a board continues to mark movie material based on a set of delineated moral principles and, with certain ratings (NC-17), prohibits an audience of a certain age.)


  • What are the objectives of the rating system we have today? Are they similar or different to those of the 1930s and 1960s?
    (Today the rating system seems geared toward providing parents with the information to make informed decisions about film watching for their family. In the 1930s censorship seemed to be wary of movies" effects on mass culture.)


  • To what extent then did the early attempts at censoring films find their way into the modern-day rating system?
    (Interestingly, the same themes are regarded in the rating system as in the censorship codes: theme, language, nudity, violence, drug abuse, and sex. In the 1968 rating system, the "Standards for Production" look very similar in content to the list of the Production Code of 1930.)


  • Do you see a need for ratings today? Would you recommend any changes? (Allow for open discussion.)


  • Do you feel it infringes on the rights of movie producers (First Amendment) at all, or do you feel it protects your rights as a consumer? (Allow for students to voice varying perspectives.)
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