Censorship through McCarthyism and Blacklisting in Hollywood
One 's surroundings ultimately impact their thought process and decisions. In order to spread ideas, people often look to the media. However, individuals ideas can only spread as long as freedom of expression is present and the element of fear is not. When individuals do not have this freedom or they have a fear of sharing their opinions, they filter or censor their work. The idea of censorship is a prominent element of today’s society and is apparent throughout history. Examples of censorship include the banning of books, movie ratings, music lyrics and governmental attempts to control the press and the media. Governments often use censorship with the goal of controlling the
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“Burdened by an uneventful political career and having an eye towards reelection, McCarthy claimed that 205 communists had infiltrated the U.S. State Department and soon after claimed to have the names of 57 State Department communists, despite having little knowledge of international espionage”(“Joseph McCarthy”). This led McCarthy to be chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Government Operations in 1952 and be re elected in the senate. He took over this committee for two years with anti communist investigations and questioned suspected officials. This all began the “Red Scare” which was the fear of communism and it coming into the United States. McCarthy continued to make claims about people, but he was not able to validate any of these claims. Although he could not validate a claim, he was still popular widely throughout America due to concerns of communism in China and Eastern Europe”(“Joseph McCarthy”).
The term “McCarthyism” has become a second name for all of the allegations with the unsubstantial charges involving Joseph McCarthy. Although Joseph McCarthy was unsuccessful with his attempts of finding people involved with communism, many people lost their jobs and had their lives altered forever. The peak and decline of McCarthyism was during the “McCarthy Hearings” televised in thirty six days. McCarthy first investigated possible spying of soldiers at the Army Signal Corps Engineering
In the 1950’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy turned Americans against each other by installing fear in the people regarding toward Communism. During this time, in fact, people were getting blacklisted even if they weren't communist. In an incident at the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling, McCarthy delivered a speech. The situation involving the Senator escalated when he stated that the State Department is infested with Communist. In this point in time, due to the false allegations, people went on a decade long period of witch hunts. Sam Roberts, the author of “A Decade of Fear” stated that in fact, “...thousands of alleged Communists in the U.S. were arrested and deported during what became known as the Red Scare.”
The Red Scare, also known as McCarthyism, took place during the 1950’s when Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy was elected during a time of fear as the Cold War’s lasting effects wore on the people of America. McCarthy could twist the anger and fear of the American citizens to produce a new social phenomenon, Communism invading our politics. McCarthy was elected as the Senator in 1946 and became a household name four years later in 1950 when he claimed 205 communists infiltrated the State Department. McCarthy’s vigorous investigation for communists in the political society made him an incredibly influential political figure. Two years later in 1952, he obtained the chairmanship for the Government Operations Party while also being reelected. McCarthy began questioning
Hundreds of years later, the United States entered the time of the “Red Scare”. In this time, Americans were still very apprehensive of Communists. On April 22, 1954, Army hearings began. Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the United States Army of being too “soft” on communism. This really began in 1950, however, when McCarthy claimed that there were over 200 known communists in the Department of State (“Army-McCarthy” History.com). As Abigail did with the Witch trials, McCarthy began accusing innocents of crime to benefit his own personal agenda.
Beginning in the early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy released a monumental rampage across the United States. For fear of governmental infiltration by Communists, an outbreak of accusations swept the nation as a result of the Wisconsin senator, and helped create what is known as the second Red Scare (“McCarthyism”)
Senator Joseph McCarthy fed the increasing panic, using unfounded rumors and intimidation to gain popularity as a potent government figure. With this newfound fame and influence, McCarthy denounced numerous public figures as being communist supporters. His victims included government officials, celebrities, intellectuals, and anyone else opposed to his view point. Most people accused by McCarthy were innocent, but many lost their reputation, and often their employment. People later came to realize that his accusations were false and McCarthy soon after died. The term “McCarthyism” has an everlasting connection with the Red Scare and persecution of the
Joseph McCarthy was a senator who used a series of tactics fueled by manipulation, deceit, and scapegoating to achieve his end goal: to gain fame and popularity. This started an era which came to be known as McCarthyism, named after the man himself. He exploited a fear that many people held after World War II, the Red Scare, and out of it came instant fame. Here, in his speech at Wheeling, he earned millions of followers who would join him in the hopes of defeating Communism once and for all. Unfortunately, like all famous fibbers, McCarthy would eventually make a series of bad decisions that would make him unpopular. Beginning with the See it Now broadcasts and the Army-McCarthy hearings, McCarthy would lose the surge of popularity he
There have been many major events in history that have shaped the way we live today. Two of these events were the “witch hunts” of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. Many similarities exist between the events such as the fear and anger that made its impression upon the communities, but however, contrast prevails between the two, such as the fuel that started the events and the consequences that were faced. The rich controversy imbedded in these topics serves for a greatly impacted history.
McCarthy is mostly known for the second red scare in which he claimed that many Communists and Soviet spies have infiltrated numerous places in the United States including the federal government.
When the Cold War occurred between the Soviet Union and the United States it was intensifying. There was fear that there would be a communist influence toward the United States.This is later to be known as the second Red Scare which occurred in the late 1940s to the mid 1950s. The first Red Scare occurred in the early 20th century, when there was a period of suspicion that the revolution in Russia would overthrow the United States government. Leading to the fear of communist revolution in the United States. During the second Red Scare in the late 1940s, Joseph McCarthy was a senator of Wisconsin ,during that time. In half of his time in office ,he tried to 1 expose communists and other people who were risks to the United States, this
The career of Joseph McCarthy took off in 1946 when he won senate, become the youngest member in senate at the time ever. McCarthy leaned toward conservation and the ideas it withheld. He believed that not only should we protect the U.S. but we should also preserve and restore it. Not long after being elected into office, in 1950 McCarthy suspected that over 205 communist had infiltrated the U.S. Government. He also claimed to have the names of 57 state department communist. After this McCarthy realized the charges necessary, and called for a wide-reaching investigation that would be known today as what we call the “red scare”. The Red Scare was the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism and radical leftism. In the United States,
Also during this time from the late 1940s to the late 1950s began McCarthyism and the scare of Communism being the United States. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin would be pushed into the public spotlight by the issue of anti-Communism. It was discovered later that the FBI had helped give McCarthy the information to help him start his campaign against Communism. For several years, McCarthy operated to seek out and destroy the lives of people whom he or others had declared as being a Communist. Lytle mentions that McCarthy charged that Communists had penetrated the United States by becoming involved in churches, the army, the CIA, and the hydrogen bomb program. Even after McCarthy’s eventual political death, McCarthyism still went on and took longer to fade away. McCarthyism was the lasting legacy of McCarthy that put the nation in a frenzy. It was characterized by false accusations of neighbors, family members, and friends and being part of the Communist party. These accusations meant that these peoples’ lives were over. They had no more authority, respect, or even career opportunities after being accused, albeit falsely.
Over the course of the 1950s, a frantic and reactionary fear of Communism permeated the American consciousness, touching nearly every aspect of American life. This fear was evident nowhere more visibly than the entertainment industry, which found itself the object of attacks from Congress, the public, and even the regulatory agency of Hollywood itself. These attacks resulted in a blacklist of writers, directors, and actors accused of being Communist sympathizers, and almost everyone on the blacklist was unable to find work as a result. However, the Hollywood blacklist was not an unusual idea, and by examining the history of the blacklist with an eye towards Hollywood censorship more generally, it becomes clear that the blacklist was barely the latest in a long line of production companies and regulators agreeing to the tough demands of the public. This trend points toward more of the same kind of censorship and coercion in the future, because Hollywood studios are facing many of the same economic difficulties that encouraged them to gleefully participate in the blacklisting the first time around.
Media censorship has been both powerful and controversial issue throughout history of mankind. Every countries’ citizens have had their lives affected by the way their government controls and censors what they see in the media. People around the world react to censorship differently due to the country they live in. Some people were born in a place with little censorship while others were born in a country where the government has complete control over everything. This can impact the way a person develops as some people will believe everything they hear and others will question everything they see and hear. Media censorship has been used effectively to control how citizens’ view on the world in Nazi Germany and in the USSR, but social
Men and women in the United States of America, find censorship helpful when it protects their children from harmful things, but they are against censorship when it is used out of context. Parents seem to appreciate censorship more when it shelters children from learning indecent things in the world that could cause danger to themselves or the others around them (Pillai, Prabhakar ). But censorship is not always good like when it is used in school’s or in books; but censorship can be helpful when it is used on the internet, social media, or in music. For instance censorship is favorable when it stops the epidemic of racism, but when censorship stops an individual from saying what that individual wants censorship is not liked by many people
Does censorship filter the media within the world? Censorship has followed the free expressions of men and women like a shadow throughout history. Censorship is a way to filter the media in the world by suppressing unacceptable viewings or hearings by not showing, bleeping out, and covering the distasteful parts. In ancient societies, China for example, censorship was considered a logical tool for regulating the political and moral life of the population. The term censor can be traced to the office of censor established in Rome i 443 BC. In Rome, in the ancient Greek communities, the thought of good governance included shaping the character of the people, although, censorship was regarded as a righteous task. In China, the first censorship law was introduced in 300 AD. Censorship is a healthy way of teaching the world, helps control the influx of information and ideas in society and compresses the violence within the world.