Individual:
The Hays code was an early attempt to justify and establish the method and guidelines for what was appropriate to show to the general public. This was before a rating system was established and was in many ways a precursor to the rating system that exists today. Because this came at a time where very little precedent existed for regulating films and there were also free speech concerns an attempt was made to justify the guidelines being put forth in the code and that element is apparent throughout it. I think the guidelines were reasonable and just like we have today, there has to be some restriction on publicly accessible content.
Group:
The code is relevant to Scarface on a more obvious level because changes were made to the film at the behest of the Hays office and this is the Hays Code. So it is relevant being that Scarface is a film where you can see the underlying guidelines being expressed in the film and the changes made to it as you can also see ultimately expressed in the code. Our group focused on the first section of the code in which the justification for the need of guidelines is laid out. The same reasons given to make changes in Scarface are laid out in this section of the code. The effects of graphic violence, sexual content and who the audience would be are all things which exist in the code and influenced changes made in Scarface.
Free speech and the character of film as a medium of entertainment and art were both issues which existed at the beginning of this industry. A distinction was drawn between film and for example literature. Film was said to be potentially much more influential because it presented concrete images and later sounds where the imagination had solely provided for before. Also, there was the general idea that less educated or poorer people were far less likely to read literature and would also be very easily influenced by film because of both the method and ease of how it told the story. Advocates for censorship were particularly concerned with what messages young people and less educated people were getting from film. This is generally laid out in the code and led to modifications of Scarface, for instance how criminals in relation to the government are portrayed.
