Freedom and Entertainment Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media
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Cambridge University Press 0521676541 - Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media Stephen Vaughn Frontmatter More information Freedom and Entertainment Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media Here is a story that Jack Valenti has long triedto keep secret. Freedom and Entertainment is the first book to offer a behind-the-scenes account of the motion picture rating system andthe Motion Picture Association of America under Valenti’s leadership. The book is based on the pri- vate papers andoral history of RichardD. Heffner, who headedthe Classification and Rating Administration for two decades, from 1974 to 1994, andwas once called“the least-known most powerful person in Hollywood.” The story chronicles the often tense working relationship between Heffner andValenti andthe sometimes bruising encounters Heffner hadwith Hollywoodheavyweights such as Clint Eastwood, Oliver Stone, Michael Douglas, George C. Scott, Lew Wasserman, Arthur Krim, Jerry Weintraub, andmany others. Stephen Vaughn has taught the history of communication at the Univer- sity of Wisconsin–Madison since 1981. He has been a past Vilas Asso- ciate Scholar at Wisconsin andis the recipient of two Fulbright awards. His previous books include Ronald Reagan in Hollywood: Movies and Politics, The Vital Past: Writings on the Uses of History, and Holding Fast the Inner Lines: Democracy, Nationalism and the Committee on Public Information. © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521676541 - Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media Stephen Vaughn Frontmatter More information Freedom and Entertainment Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media STEPHEN VAUGHN University of Wisconsin © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521676541 - Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media Stephen Vaughn Frontmatter More information cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao˜ Paulo Cambridge University Press 40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011-4211, usa www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521852586 c Stephen Vaughn 2006 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception andto the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2006 Printedin the UnitedStates of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Vaughn, Stephen, 1947– Freedom and entertainment : rating the movies in an age of new media / Stephen Vaughn. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-521-85258-7 (hardback) – isbn 0-521-67654-1 (pbk.) 1. Motion pictures – Ratings – UnitedStates. 2. Sex in motion pictures. 3. Violence in motion pictures. I. Title. pn1993.5.u6v38 2006 384.84–dc22 2005001236 isbn-13 978-0-521-85258-6 hardback isbn-10 0-521-85258-7 hardback isbn-13 978-0-521-67654-0 paperback isbn-10 0-521-67654-1 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication anddoesnot guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521676541 - Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media Stephen Vaughn Frontmatter More information In Memory of Louise Mullen (1924–2004) and for E. Eugene Mullen © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521676541 - Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media Stephen Vaughn Frontmatter More information Contents Acknowledgments page ix List of Abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 1 New Leaders and a New System 12 2 Sex, Profanity, andViolence 42 3 The X Rating andthe Home Entertainment Revolution 64 4 The Technology of Special Effects andthe Effects of Screen Violence 92 5 Pornography 122 6 The Antipornography Crusade 147 7 Hollywood, Drugs, and Religion 169 8 NC-17 194 9 Television 222 10 The Digital Future 251 Archives 267 Government Hearings and Publications 269 Motion Pictures 273 Bibliography 281 Index 315 vii © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521676541 - Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media Stephen Vaughn Frontmatter More information Acknowledgments In the course of writing this book, I have been helpedandencouragedby many people, andI wish to thank them for their support. Freedom and Entertainment deals with the years since 1968, but in many respects the context for the book depends on research about the history of cinema and motion picture censorship that for me began more than two decades ago andthat initially focusedon the first half of the twentieth century. Some of that work culminatedin a 1990 article appearing in the Journal of American History andsubsequently in my book Ronald Reagan in Hollywood: Movies and Politics (1994), andthere I have attemptedto thank many people who contributed so generously to my understanding of movies andtheir place in American culture. For several years, though, efforts to study the years after 1968 were frustratedby the lack of primary sources. Then, in 1999, I hadthe good fortune to meet RichardD. Heffner, who hadrecently retiredfrom the Classification andRating Administrationthat he hadheadedbetween 1974 and 1994. I am indebted to Professor Heffner, who on several occa- sions was willing to discuss his work with the rating system. More impor- tant, Heffner’s oral history andrelateddocuments,which are now open to researchers at Columbia University, provided one of the most important sources for this book. In fact, without this collection, Freedom and Enter- tainment wouldnot have been possible. All studentsof American cinema duringthe latter part of the twentieth century shouldfindHeffner’s papers of great value. I also wish to thank Mary Marshall Clark, director of the Columbia Oral History Collection in Butler Library, Columbia University, andher staff, for their help in using this collection. ix © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521676541 - Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media Stephen Vaughn Frontmatter More information x Acknowledgments I appreciate the insights of friends and colleagues who either read and commentedon all or parts of this book, or who sharedtheir knowl- edge about topics related to it. I am in the debt of several people who shared their knowledge about social science research on mass media. Joanne Cantor readthe entire manuscript andmadeseveral suggestions for improvement. She was helpful in pointing to important research that has been done on media effects. Jack McLeod also read chapters that dealt with media effects and was helpful in explaining the political context of these studies and the strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches usedby researchers. I profitedfrom discussionswith Robert Hawkins about catharsis theory andabout such studiesas the Surgeon General’s Report of 1972 andthe National Institute of Mental Health’s report on Television and Behavior ten years later. Sharon Dunwoody read and commented on two chapters that dealt with media effects, and Doug McLeodwas helpful in suggesting research that has been doneon the significance of color in mass communication. Friendsandcolleagues also sharedtheir expertise on other topics. Paul Boyer, who read the entire work, drew on his vast knowledge of American intellectual life to make valuable suggestions about censorship, religion, andpolitical culture. Bruce Evensen, at DePaul University, readmost of the chapters andwas helpful with context by sharing his great knowledge about film history andreligion in the UnitedStates. Michele Hilmes read the entire manuscript and made many helpful recommendations, espe- cially relating to broadcasting and regulation. I benefited from talking with DonaldDowns andRobert Drechsel about the legal framework of censorship, andwith James L. Baughman about television. Greg Downey andJeremi Suri readsections that dealtwith new mediatechnologies and sharedtheir knowledgeon this subject. Along the way, Deborah Blum, Lewis Friedland, Jack Mitchell, and Hemant Shah made helpful com- ments. I wish to thank, too, Sharon Blum, Chin-I Wang, andRob Rabe for their contributions to this work. The impact of new communication technologies on cinema andAmer- ican history is a central theme in this book. I am especially grateful to the staff of the University of Wisconsin Library Systems for their support help- ing to publish on-line my annotatedbibliography New Communication Technologies: Their History and Social Influence (2003), which provides a context for Freedom and Entertainment. Director Kenneth Frazier was particularly helpful, as were Sue Dentinger, DonaldJohnson, Nolan Pope, andPeter Gorman. © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521676541 - Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media Stephen Vaughn Frontmatter More information Acknowledgments xi I wish to thank other archivists andlibrarians who have been help- ful in my research. These people include: James Danky, Harry Miller, andPeter Gottlieb at the Wisconsin Historical Society; Maxine Fleckner-