It was in 1922 when William Hays first formed the MPAA, more officially known as the Motion Picture Association of America. What this meant to the film industry was that new codes of ethics and censorship guidelines were to be enforced during the making of each and every new film.
Movies were conceptualized, created and distributed this way for years under the “Golden Age” of Hollywood from 1920 to 1960. In 1952, however, everything about the industry had changed.
In the “Miracle Case,” as it is known, Joseph Burstyn had appealed a court decision of inhibiting his right to produce a film. Burstyn’s segment film first showed in Europe in 1948. The comments that arose from the crowd that went to see it mentioned that the film was, “vile, harmful and blasphemous.”
When the film was released in America, the New York State Board of Regents began receiving harsh letters. After Board members sat and examined the film, they did indeed determine that the messages the film was sending were “sacrilegious.” Thus, the Board rescinded Burstyn’s license for the piece.
This, then, caused Burstyn to take his case to the Supreme Court. In Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, it was ruled that “motion pictures are a significant medium for the communication of ideas and are therefore protected by the First Amendment.”
This is when it all began.
Due to the fact that films are a certain mode of expression and protected under one’s rights, this has caused many instances of obscenity and vulgarity to slip through the margins.
Since the 1970s, films have been presenting forms of prostitution and sex slavery. Movies have been known to highlight said qualities in order to forward the “sex sells” agenda.
The way that these females have been depicted decade after decade in motion pictures has greatly affected not only the female image, but the industry of prostitution as a whole.
With female figures in films gaining attention and the spotlight for their bodies, this leads many women to be influenced by the messages movies are sending. When analyzing the role of women in such films, viewers have noticed that “the life of a woman who is ‘decent’ is much less interesting than the play provided by a whore.”
The longing to have such characters in films draws from the story told by a patriarchal society. Aspects like domination, control and authority find their ways of leaking out from said stories and into our society. With images constantly being produced and reproduced time after time again, this vicious cycle of women finding their own authority and being subjected back to societal norms continues on.
With prostitution and the sex industry constantly being the focus of many modern films, this can be seen as a form of advertisement for the field. Films with such qualities often tell a story of redemption for the women, but this, however, is not always the case. The prostitution industry is a multi-billion dollar field in the United States alone, and women do not always find a way out.
With films sugarcoating the reality for these women, less attention is paid to them and the lifestyle they find themselves in.
If change is going to happen in our society regarding the sex culture and degrading images, it has to begin where these ideas were first produced, from the big screen. Although movie makers are protected by the First Amendment in producing crude and derogatory films, this is not an excuse to go through with such a story.
If you long to see not only the prostitution industry changed, but the overall stigma of how women are depicted in films, do not support the motion pictures that have these attributes within them. Do not give your money to those who are creating stories with such characters and do not allow the spotlight that is set on the sex slavery field to shine at all.
