The top 10 highest-grossing films of 2024 might just have William Hays rolling in his grave.
For those unfamiliar with the man, MCLA’s TV & Film Society hosted a lecture on the evening of October 9th in Bowman Hall all about him. His production code, called the “Hays Code,” was the earliest rating system for the content of movies, and it was much stricter than the modern rating system we use today.
The lecture, written and presented by Clarke Stading, President of TV & Film Society, walked attendees through the history of content warnings for films. Hays’ code was the first widely used system for determining a film’s appropriate audience based on its’ content.
“Pre-code Hollywood was full of scandal. The content in films was scandalous, the world of Hollywood at the time was scandalous,” Stading said, “and you know what sells tickets? Scandalous movies. Would you rather watch a boring movie about two people sitting happily in a field or would you rather watch a movie where someone gets shot and people have explicit sex?”
As studios vied to sell the most tickets, making each film more shocking than the last, they were met with heavy criticism from some groups. “There were, of course, people who claimed that these questionable morals [on-screen] would lead to the downfall of society,” Stading said. “What do people do when there’s things they don’t like? They censor things!” Even films now considered classics fell under scrutiny, like “Frankenstein,” which was campaigned against for its so-called blasphemous content, due to one line in the famous lightning storm scene: “Now, I know what it feels like to be God.”
“There was a fear of the federal government banning films as a whole at the time,” said Stading, “because it was a new medium and they weren’t sure it would be protected under the first amendment. No-one had done this before.”
In response to the concerns from protest groups, Stading said “[a lot] of states implemented their own censorship, and it varied from state to state. You could watch a movie in New York State and then drive across the border to Massachusetts and not be able to see the same film.”
Introduced in 1924, the Hays Code was William Hays’ proposed solution to avoiding a federal film ban. “It’s not a law, it’s just a suggestion,” said Stading, of its earliest iteration. The Hays Code, or “the formula” as Hays called it, was a set of guidelines for filmmakers about what subjects they ought to include in films, and how to handle the portrayal of those topics. “Hays was a former Presbyterian minister,” they said. “The Hays Code was based very much upon conservative Christian ideas of morality.”
Despite the introduction of the Hays Code, it was barely used for the first few years it existed. Simply put, violent, scandalous, sexy movies sold tickets. In the film industry, like everywhere else, money talks. And according to the money, immoral movies were what was selling.
Then came the 1930s.
Following the stock market crash of 1929, studios had to try harder than ever to get bodies in seats at the movie theater. This meant more questionably immoral films than ever, and of course, more public outcry than ever. In response, the Hays Code was officially implemented by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA), now the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), in 1934.
Following its implementation, if a movie did not live up to the highly subjective terms of the Hays Code, it would not be distributed to theaters. In a time before movies were easily accessible from home, not playing in theaters was the worst-case scenario for a film.
Stading then walked attendees through the major tenets of the Hays Code, to muttered surprise and incredulity from their listeners.
“1. No picture shall be produced which will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin. 2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented. 3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.”
In the silence that followed rule three, Stading asked attendees to raise their hands if they had ever seen a movie that broke one or more of those rules. Every hand in the room went up. “Exactly,” declared Stading. “People like the movies that break [the rules]. That’s what’s fun. We like seeing bad people do bad things and cheering for them.”
The Hays Code outlines specific guidelines for each topic it handles, and as Stading ran through some of the highlights, like “The technique of murder must be presented in a way that will not inspire imitation,” or “Excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embraces, suggestive postures and gestures, are not to be shown”, the disbelief in the room only grew.
After a break for pizza and soda, attendees reconvened to learn more about how the code was enforced.
Movies were given a rating on an ABC scale, a precursor to our modern rating system (G, PG, R, etc.). Morally unobjectionable movies earned an ‘A’, while movies deemed “morally objectionable in part” earned ‘B’s. If a movie was too objectionable, it got a ‘C’ rating under the Hays Code. Movies with lower ratings were frequently barred from showing in theaters. “Anyone ever seen ‘It’s a Wonderful Life?” Stading asked after explaining the ratings. “That movie got a ‘B’, because there’s a prostitute in it.”
With some of the highest grossing titles of 2024 being “Deadpool vs. Wolverine”, “Dune: Part Two”, and “Bad Boys: Ride or Die”, it’s clear the Hays Code isn’t the end-all-be-all for films these days. Stading attributes that change to good old television. “In the 50s, televisions were becoming a thing and there was a lot more TV content than there was film content. That’s a lot harder to regulate.”
Despite its waning power in the late 40s and early 50s, 1952 was the killing blow for the Hays Code. Centering around an Italian film called “The Miracle” that was deemed blasphemous for portraying a woman who believed she had been impregnated by Saint Joseph, a court case dubbed “The Miracle Decision” rendered the Hays Code mostly impotent. In the case of Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, the US Supreme Court decided that film was protected under the rule of the 1st Amendment.
Once Stading told attendees the Hays Code was finally banned in 1968, the consensus in the room was “good riddance.” Following the lecture, attendees tested their knowledge with a Hays Code Kahoot and discussed the code’s lingering effects on the film industry. Acknowledging the films made possible by the removal of the code, many attendees said their favorites might never have been made. “There’s no ‘John Wick’ under the Hays Code,” quipped Stading, in response.
For those interested in the history, art form, or production process of film and TV, TV & Film Society Vice President Kai Amuso encourages them to come to a meeting of the club, which happen every Wednesday night from 7-8pm. “We have a production in the works at the moment, we’re starting the editing of a script that we’re hoping to produce towards the end of next semester.”
You can get in touch with club president Clarke Stading, Kai Amuso, or the club’s adviser Michael Birch for more information.
As attendees finished their pizza and began to leave, Stading summed up the evenings lecture, saying: “It all, in part, stems back to the Hays Code. So, I’m going back to the slide with William Hays on it and we can all say thank you to this man for making film what it is.”
