1. Film Ratings Past and Present -read through the article “Hollywood Rethinks Its Ratings Process” -underline 3 points that contribute to the main idea of the article Discussion: What do you think of our current ratings system? Does it work? What are the downsides? How would you alter it?

2. Film Ratings Past and Present Development of Ratings Systems: -1920’s: What’s going on culturally in America in the 1920’s? -1922: Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America and Postmaster Will H. Hays call for “self-regulation” to avoid outside censorship -movies had to be submitted for approval for the first time -1930: Hays Production Code of 1930, aka “The Hays Code”  focus on “moral” vs. “immoral” films -Read through the Hays Code handout: What stands out to you in those first two sections? http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/film_censorshi p.cfm

3. Film Ratings Past and Present -What were the positive affects of the Hays Code? The negative affects? Postmaster Will H. Hays

4. Film Ratings Past and Present -Changes with Jack Valenti: new president of Motion Picture Association of America in 1966 -Saw the negative affects of the heavy censorship present in the Hays Code and developed the first installation of the modern ratings code in 1968. -Movies would no longer be "approved" or "disapproved." Instead, an independent ratings body, comprised of parents, would give advance cautionary warnings to parents, so that they can make informed decisions about which films their children see.

5. Film Ratings and Film Noir Detour: 1945 film about a man named Al Roberts, who is hitchhiking from NYC to Hollywood to reunite with his girlfriend. Along the way, Al’s driver dies, causing Al to take his identity. He soon encounters a woman, Vera, who blackmails him into keeping the dead man’s identity and participating in her criminal schemes. Lower production budget, but still a hallmark of the film noir style: flashbacks (starts after the fact), voice-over narration, manipulative femme fatal, dark/shadowy style, alienation of central, male anti-hero Contains multiple scenes that were censored along the lines of the Hays Code: ie. murder and death are not explicitly shown; murderer gets arrested at the end by the police, does not get away with the crimes. How, would film noir as a genre influence the production codes present at the time?