After reading the Lord-Quigley code I can now see why Scarface was seen as such a violent and offensive film, the way people viewed things back then was totally different from today. Seeing the code through today’s eyes it seems outrageous and impossible to make a film that shows anything negative, there is to be no sexual promiscuity or corruption in the government or church officials, even if those things were happening in society. There seems to be too many restrictions in the code and it seems as if it would be next to impossible to make any film with violence unless you take the time to show how morally wrong it is. The code writers appear as if they believe that the public is to ignorant to watch a movie and decipher what is right and wrong, instead it appears as if they believe that the public will not be able to make this difference and that movies will alter all of societies views. There are some parts of the code that i do not agree with, for instance in the beginning of the code it states that there are some forms of entertainment that degrade the human race, which I think is ridiculous. There is no form of entertainment that can degrade an entire race, it may change some people views but if there that easily influenced than movies cannot be to blame. In the section of the code were they discuss sex it seems as though marriage is a sacred institution and any attacks on this institution would not be tolerated. The same goes for “impure love” which sounds as though they mean cheating, or adultery. In my opinion most of the code seems incredibly unreasonable, it seems as though the writers were blind to the truth. It didn’t want marriage to be viewed in an impure light or for impure love to be shown even though all these things were going on in the real world. It seemed as if they wanted to hide the truths of the world.
In section III of the Reasons Underlying Particular Application the sub-sections on vulgarity, obscenity and profanity are pretty self explanatory. There is to be no vulgar or obscene material such as excessive violence and sexual content and there is to be no use of profanity, no cursing. This section in regards to Scarface has little effect from my point of view but I’m sure in the 1930’s the way the gangsters acted and talked seemed vulgar. I believe this may be one of the reasons why they didn’t show the original ending of the movie because it was seen as too vulgar. In regards to section VII Dances, there are to be no dances that represent sexual actions that intend to “excite the emotional reaction of an audience.” There are to be no dances that involve groping or sexual motions. In Scarface dancing is used in a sexual manner when Cesca dances with a man at the party, although by today’s standards that dance was very toned down. In regards to section VIII Religion ministers and religious figures cannot be made fun of or showed as villains because that could change the attitude taken toward religion. Changing the way people view religious officials could have problematic outcomes.
