So I’m talking to Mom last night and she tells me that the Cincinnati Enquirer gave Little Miss Sunshine a bad review. And I tell her that it’s probably because of the Enquirer’s conservative Midwest sensibilities in considering the range of semi-taboo topics covered in the film: from suicide to pro-promiscuity discussions to a tween girl shaking her Djabouti to “Superfreak.”

Anyway, in the course of the conversation, we get into the Hays Codes. Apparently, as Mom pointed out, the last year the Hays Codes were in effect A Man For All Seasons (The story of Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church) won Best Picture. But a year later, when in lieu of the Codes the MPAA ratings system was begun, The Graduate (and we all know what that’s about) won. I never knew any such Codes existed. So I decided to do some research... (thanks, Wikipedia)


So who was this Hays guy and what gave him the moral authority to wield his axe of... moral authority all around MovieLand? Actually, he was a former Postmaster General:

Public outcry over perceived immorality, both in Hollywood and in the movies, led to the creation in 1922Motion Picture Association of America in 1945). Intended to project a positive image of the movie industry, the association was headed by Will H. Hays, who had previously been United States Postmaster General and the 1920 campaign manager for President Warren G. Harding. Hays pledged to establish a set of moral standards for the movies.


The Hays Codes were enacted in 1930 (just after the Roaring 20s- curious) by the Motion Picture Association of America. Here are some of the Codes:

• Nudity and suggestive dances were prohibited.
• The ridicule of religion was forbidden, and ministers of religion were not to be represented as comic characters or villains.
• The depiction of illegal drug use was forbidden, as well as the use of liquor, "when not required by the plot or for proper characterization".
• Methods of crime (e.g. safe-cracking, arson, smuggling) were not to be explicitly presented.
• References to "sex perversion" (such as homosexuality) and venereal disease were forbidden, as were depictions of childbirth.
• "Vulgarity," defined as "low, disgusting, unpleasant, though not necessarily evil, subjects" must be treated within the "subject to the dictates of good taste". Capital punishment, "third-degree methods", cruelty to children and animals, prostitution and surgical operations were to be handled with similar sensitivity.

Wow- talk about American Puritanism. Lucky for us, the Hays Codes came to an end in 1967 and were replaced by the MPAA ratings system. Hey, a lot of us may have beefs with the MPAA, but before it came into effect there were ostensibly no "R" movies made. Interesting that what is commonly regarded as the height of moviemaking, the 70s, immediately followed the ending of the Hays Codes.

Go to Wikipedia to find out more.