Joe Breen's Personal Propaganda Machine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Joe Breens Personal Propaganda Machine - Essay Examplein Espar). In 1934, Hays was joined by Joe Breen, a strict Catholic moralist, and assigned to run the product reckon Administration (PCA). Todays movie codes grew out of these early efforts to classify and render movies safe for children and general globe consumption. But was this an effort to make our movie houses safe for women and children Or was thither something more sinister than a few obscenities at work In fact, Hays cargond small about keeping pornography out from children. His self-serving interest had been to keep the government away from the movies. His misguided attempts would backfire years later as the PCA would evolve into the center of cultural warfare. The Legion of Decency, headed by Breen, joined alliances with Hays, not to regulate morality, but to develop an agency whos purpose was to control society, further their personal political ideals, and shape the mind of America.There is little room for controv ersy over the need to protect our children from the vast array of products and influences available today. There are proficient reasons why alcohol, tobacco, and pornography are well regulated by society and kept from the hand of children, and it is nothing new. Censorship has existed in every society since the Athenians arrested Socrates for ... corrupting the children and offending the Gods (Riley 4). Yes, the world has security review and censorship is here to stay. In fact, without the modern movie code system of PG, PG-13, and XXX that was spawned by the PCA, it would be unsurmountable for responsible parents to adequately screen the volume of content available today. In spite of the problems within the PCA, the Codes catch turned out to be a workable solution to a very complex problem. However, there is a wise old adage that says, The good is found in the intentions, but the bad is in the unintended consequences. In the case of the PCA, it may be exactly the opposite. The PCA may consecrate resulted in good consequences, in spite of the worst of intentions. Peering 75 years into the past to measure the intentions of men long passed is not an easy task. Yet, we can examine the things they said and the things they did. We can read their quotes and read their writings. We can evaluate what was runway out, what was left in, and try to see if there is a common thread that runs throughout that might re-stitch the model of their thoughts. Putting this information in context with the cultural and social setting of the time, the depression, the looming war, bigotry, and racism can get together us a glimpse inside the mind of the PCA. The original PCA codes were adopted from the Catholic Movie Code and were very specific as to what they deemed a transgression. In part they stated that a film could neer ...lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrong-doing, unworthy o r sin(Heins). What was considered wrong-doing, evil, and sin varied far and wide and was almost always at the benevolence of Breens interpretation. Semi nudity, lustful kissing, and sexual innuendo were all forbidden. Brutality, drinking, bathrooms, double beds, extra-marital affairs, and other transgressions of Catholic Doctrine have all fallen victim to the censors ax at one time or another. Yet, the PCA went further to impose that, Government and