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FROM A OEGREE
OF CONTROL .. .
l.
The 1910's- Silent Slapstíck- the Key–
stone Kops. 2. The 1920's - Sublimated
Sex; postwar romance and permissiveness.
3. The 1930's- Laurel and Hardy- humor
to escape the pangs of depress1on. 4. The
1940's- "Gone With the Wind"- prudery
exhibited by the national flap caused by
the word "damn." 5. The 1950's - "The
Moon is Blue" - was suggested for mature
audiences only due to the use of words
such as virgin. seduce, and pregnant. 6. The
1960's- The flrst half of the decade was an
extension of the 1950's des1re for s•mplicity
m
a spectacle - w1th Mary Poppins.
. . .
"TO ANYTHING GOES"
7. "Lolita" (1962) - Adultery and illicit
love introduced. 8. "Who's Af raid of Vlr–
gania Woolf?" (1966) - Farst use of pro–
fanity and blatant cursing in a major movie.
9. "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) - First use
of graphic violence and slow-motion killing.
10. " The Fox" (1968) - Lesbianism intro–
duced into the movies.
11 .
"Midnight Cow–
boy" (1969) - First " X" -rated film to win
the Best Picture Osear. featured mate
prostitution. 12. CLOCKWORK ORANGE
(1971) - The "ultimate" combination: ultra–
violence, perverted sex, and
demon~sm.
What next?
The
PLAIN TRUTH
this country. We don't lead the country,
we rcflcct it."
What the mo' ies are
reflecting
about
American tastes, thcn, is thc real prob–
lcm. While only
20
or
30
movies out of
the
1500
rated havc come under scvere
criticism for their ratings, sccnes gen–
erally more common to the
"R"
movies
have been creeping into general audience
("G"
and "GP") films, if handled less
cxplicitly or with what the committee
considered better taste. Movie-goers
gradually accepted thcse formerly taboo
scenes, and now no longer find tbcm
particularly offensive.
What most Amcricans may havc con-
sidercd "shocking" just three years ago
is now accepted with not so much as
a
blush or a blink. Since our moral stan–
darcls change gradually, we don't realize
how much difference a
fcw
years
have
made.
In 1965
a swear word was con–
sidered shocking, but in
1970, an
X–
ratcd movie
( 1\Jidnight Cou·bo))
was
awarded the "Best Picture of the Year"
Osear.
February 1972
Violence and the Bizarre
Last fall, a "GP" rated movie called
JVillard
was outgrossing
Lot'e Story
by
leaps and bounds in sorne arcas.
lVill–
ard
is a rather bizarre account of a frus–
tratcd youog man who trains an army of
rats to attack and tear apart bis over–
bcaring boss. Thc rats comply with vo–
r;teious fury. Meanwhile, young impres–
sionables are heartily cheering the rats
onward from the balcony.
Another GP-rated f1lm opcos with
a
tone woman in an isolated house who is
brutally raped by a stranger with a
stocking over his face. The rape scene is
filled with the woman's screams as the
intruder rips off her clothes. Meanwhile
the childrcn "unaccompanied by parent
or guardian" passively absorb the
violence.
There are oo absolutely clear defini-
tions for movie raters about what is
ttlu·tt)I
right or
altNy.r
wrong in films.