What is the Hays Code?

"G", "PG", "PG-13", & "R" has been the rating system that informs audiences of the content in film or television shows for decades. It wasn't always that way because back in 1927, very strict rules, known as the Hays Code, were put in place until its demise in the late 1960's.

The Hays Production Code would be the dominate standard for Hollywood for the next couple of decades, leading to the creation of many classics between 1934 & the 1960's. Casablanca being the most notable benefactor of the restrictions of the code forcing an alternate ending.

The Hays code was named after Will H. Hays, a Presbyterian elder & president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA). His intentions were noble due to Hollywood dealing with serious scandals & fearing U.S. government interference.

Officially named the Motion Picture Production Code, these were a set of moral guidelines & rules that were meant to make Hollywood pictures "presentable" & "safe" for the public at large, which meant not covering or featuring certain controversial topics, themes, or actions.

Initially the PCA didn't allow for anti-Nazi films, but as it became clear how terrible the Nazis were, they allowed for them once the U.S. government commissioned Hollywood to make anti-Nazi propaganda & war films.

The code mandated that films keep Catholic & family values, no sexually explicit content, good guys always win while the bad guys always lose, nothing promoting "bad values" or "perversion", & no swearing or offensive language.

Many filmmakers dismissed the Hays Code as silly restrictions that were impossible to enforce & continued to make films full of violence & sex. Their reasoning being that enforcers could not police the amount of scripts written or films shot for content control.

In 1934, to solidify the enforcement of the code, the Production Code Administration (PCA) was created so that Hollywood movies would be required to have a stamp of approval by the PCA prior to their release.

1952 also saw the Supreme Court overruling its previous decision regarding movies as a business, permitting them to now be seen as art by granting them First Amendment rights.

1968 is when the Motion Picture Production Code was abandoned & became the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) that instituted the rating system that we know today. The lesson taken from the Hays Code era is that it's impossible to stifle creativity.