Kathleen Norris on Pre-Code "Bad Girls"

WELCOME TO SOUL TELEGRAM: MOVIES & MEANING - a weekly newsletter by Kathleen Norris and Gareth Higgins exploring how cinema helps us understand our lives, expand our horizons, and live better. Each week Kathleen or Gareth writes an essay about a movie, a filmmaker, or a theme arising in cinema; accompanied by a sketch of three things one of us is thinking about these days. We hope to encourage meaningful reflection on familiar movies, and to introduce works of surpassing beauty, wisdom, and provocation that aren’t so well known. Ultimately we want to nurture a good conversation about life and art, and we’re glad you’re here. Please do join the conversation by commenting on these pieces, and if you like what we’re doing, please share with others - thank you friends.

Kathleen Norris on PRE-CODE “BAD GIRLS”

In the 1920’s American films offering sordid stories of gangsters and their molls were popular with the public, but as demands for censorship increased states began passing laws requiring “decency” in films. This threatened the ability of studios to distribute films nationwide, and in 1927 studio executives agreed to allow Will H. Hays, President of the Motion Picture Producers and Directors of America, to provide them with a list of Don’ts and Be Carefuls. It reflects common prejudices, prohibiting depictions of interracial romance, “sex perversion," drug use, and “women selling their virtue.” Films were not to “lower the moral standard of those who see them,” or induce sympathy for criminals. As the list was largely ignored by Hollywood, continued protests led to the infamous Hays Code that was enforced from 1934 to 1968.