Modern Bollywood, A Decade Old: Bollywood and the Colonial Censorship

This paper was prepared for Introduction to Film History, Module 1 Homework Assignment, taught by Professor Stephanie Sandifer.

The censorship conflicts in the 1900s were extremely intriguing and intense. Around the end of the 1920s, individuals possessed immense moral shifts powered by religious groups during the Great Depression, which resulted in decisions that created a new revolution that dealt particularly with the regulation of content of films. Consequently, in 1934, at the same time that the “Golden Age of Hollywood” began, the Hollywood Production code was formally implemented. The film

During the early years of Hollywood, films had very few regulations on how they can be made. From 1922 till 1930, people were outraged at Hollywood that they have no rules on how they should make films. In response, religious groups were editing movies for their local communities to make them save for their standards. Eventually the government started to talk about enforcing rules that would censor Hollywood movies for the public. To stop that from happening, Hollywood enforced their own rules called the Motion Picture Production Code or the Hays Code.

But, by the 1960s, producers and directors began to take back what was rightfully theirs, their freedom to make and produce whatever movies they wanted. Movies without the Code’s approval were being released and becoming huge film hits anyway. This took away from the Production Code’s power and responsibility. Often times they undermined themselves.

The Production Code Administration emerged in 1934. It was the organic outgrowth of a backlash to immorality in film perceived since the 1920’s (Gomery & Pafort-Overduin, 2011). As an entertainment medium, film was revolutionary: all of the sudden, vivid snippets of life could reach a mass audience. Not long after motion pictures enthralled the country, producers began to recognize the opportunity to attract larger audiences – and increase profits – by filming stories involving provocative subjects and thus stimulating the people’s sense of wonder (Gomery & Pafort-Overduin, 2011). A natural outgrowth of this trend was the increasingly transgressive nature of motion pictures. In an age characterized by both economic and social progress, a backlash against new ideas

Although often ignored, film-makers have a responsibility make sure that their content sends the right messages to their impressionable fans. Parents have a responsibility to keep their children away from shows that could harm their development or make them think a certain way. Even the government has a responsibility to prevent corrupt news by avoiding the use of propaganda and censorship. The capability of television could go a long way and do impressive things for the world if everybody maintained their responsibilities and worked hard to avoid the corruption of

Like all cultural products, films have always been implicated in ideology. This was never truer than the period in America between the beginning of WWII in 1937 and the end of the Cold War in 1991. During this time (in 1947) the HUAC or House Committee on Un American Activities held a hearing lasting nine days to uncover those with Nazi ties within the United States. After the committee blacklisted several producers, writers and directors, the state intervened saying that Hollywood was directly responsible as a producer of ideology for domestic and foreign consumption. It was this complicity that essentially silenced the war.

During the 1920s, American Film was at the peak of its glory. 1920s Film was the biggest form of entertainment and a weekly pastime for millions of Americans, regardless of race and social background. Silent films continued to improve and innovate the film industry. Hollywood established themselves as an American force and produced hundreds of silent films. Also, Hollywood became the birthplace of “movie stars” such as Janet Gaynor, Rudolph Valentino, and Charlie Chaplin. Movie studios such as Warner Brothers Pictures, RKO, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, and 20th Century Fox owned thousands of theaters and received public acclamation for hundreds of films produced. The 1920’s American film industry is the epitome of the ascension of Hollywood and the innovation era of film.

The Cinema has became one of America’s favorite past times. The artistry and the technology has captured American audiences, giving films influence over our culture. The film industry can easily change people’s opinions, without much work Hollywood can make us hate the villains and love the heroes. Through this we see the power that the cinema industry has grown to have, and the influence it has in our society. However it is also our society who possess even greater influence over the film industry.

Hollywood has been a formidable force in the film industry since the 1910’s onwards. As with any industry that has lasted that length of time, Hollywood has gone through a few changes to deal with the changes in technology and culture. One of the more significant changes that Hollywood has faced since the advent of sound in films, was the fall of its Golden Era. There were a combination of reasons the industry went through dramatic changes in the late 1950s to mid-1960s. The Paramount decree and other government imposed limitation on power of the studios, change in audience demographic, and a strict code system limiting the types of stories that could be told through the medium of film all contributed to a shift in the industry and the type of product that Hollywood

The 1920s also known as the “Roaring Twenties”, “Jazz Age” or the “Golden Age” by North Americans and Europeans were the years of economic and artistic growth as well as social and cultural change. Whether in the 1920s or present day, films are a result of the public’s demand for entertainment. However, the production of films is an art that subtly delivers hidden messages to the public or as Kracauer suggests, coded references. After World War 1, despite the hardships each nation had dealt with and the frustration towards those in power, the public was happy it finally ended. Afterwards, America dealt with economic prosperity and a rise of interest in entertainment and enjoyable activities, specifically films, to in a way make up for the

Samuel Yoon Dr. Miller William Webb CS100A Wilfrid Laurier University Dec. 1st 2014 Step 1. a): Visual Media History Step 1. b): Censorship in the 20th century British film Description: Following the first public appearance of film in 1896 in London, England there were numerous issues that arose; public safety and the content within films came to the forefront of public concern. This led to local authorities such as The London City Council (LCC) possessing the authority to decide all regulations and rules of film.

The 2006 film, “This Film is Not Yet Rated”, argues that the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA’s) rating system for films is a form of censorship with underlying purposes. The rating system’s purposes as the film presents include profit, box office numbers, image, control and company interest. The film presents its thesis with facts, independent investigation and commentary by people within the film industry and those that the MPAA’s film rating system directly affects.

Over the years, Bollywood has emerged as its own distinct identity in the global Film industry. Bollywood is the global leader in production of movies with a staggering 27,000 featured films and thousands of short films. ( Pillania 1) However, Hollywood is still the leader in revenues generated. Due to the growth of the Indian market and globalization, Bollywood has made its way to the international markets. Globalization is often misrepresented as the growing influence of the western culture in the world and so we tend to state that Hollywood is influencing Bollywood to a great extent. An argument can be made to justify the validity of that statement. However, this paper aims at presenting the influence of Bollywood on Hollywood in

The BBFC has commissioned me to undertake research as part of a project to ascertain to what degree films can be regarded as powerful within contemporary society. In this assignment, I will comprehensively explain the relationship between audiences and films with well explained examples. I refer to the different sectors relating to the topic that include the following: