The Encyclopedia of Stanley Kubrick

CENSORSHIP

censorship: translation

STANLEY KUBRICK ran into censorship restrictions withSPARTACUS(homosexuality and violence),LOLITA(pedophilia), andA CLOCKWORK ORANGE(rape and violence) because of prohibitions in the Motion Picture Production Code and the Legion of Decency. The code had its origins in 1930 with Will Hays, the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPAA), who was approaching the end of his eighth year in endeavoring to maintain “the highest possible moral and artistic standards in motion picture production. ” His system of recommended “Don’ts and Be Carefuls,” instituted since 1927, had not proved to be a satisfactory way to police the movie establishment. Some stronger document or code was needed to define strict guidelines for filmmakers. The Production Code, as it came to be called,was written by two men: Martin Quigley, a self-appointed “apostle of decency,”was the publisher ofThe Motion Picture Herald;and the Rev. Daniel A. Lord was a Jesuit priest at St. Louis University. Both were Catholics. Together with Will Hays, they went to Hollywood to present a proposed code, which was accepted in March 1930. The code stipulated a list of prohibitions. In the first section there is a brief summary of those prohibitions; in the second section, called “The Reasons,” there is a discussion of basic principles to be followed in making morally constructive pictures. The code was not aligned along strictly religious or denominational principles; rather, its moral construction hearkened to the Ten Commandments, universally accepted by the adherents of Judaism and Christianity. But, as historian ALEXANDER WALKER says, “It is the principle underlying thewordingthat reflects the Roman Catholic inspiration. For it is based on the belief that the sinful can be redeemed through the technique of penance. In the censorship manual, this goes under the name of ‘moral compensation. ’ It means that whoever commits a sin or a crime in a film must be made to suffer remorse, or repentance, or retribution—the degree of each to be apportioned to the gravity of the offence.”
At the outset, the code’s General Principles distinguish between desirable entertainment—that which improves and refreshes the spirit of mankind-and that which is not—that which degrades humanity. This duality is maintained throughout the document. In addition, the code is explicitly states that movies can affect man’s moral standards. It is difficult, the code declares, to produce films intended for only certain classes of people. Movies must take into account the demographics of the cultivated, the illiterate, the mature and immature, the young and old, law-respecting and criminal. Thus, that which is permissible in a stage play (which presumably is directed at only certain classes of people) must necessarily be restricted in a movie.
Specific recommendations included the following:
1. Evil should not be presented in an attractive light.
2. Wrongdoers must not be sympathetically portrayed.
3. Natural and human law must not be ridiculed.
4. Right and wrong must be clearly demarcated.
5. Adultery in a comedy is to be avoided; in a drama never justified.
6. Seduction and rape are not permissible in comedies; in dramas they must only besuggested.
7. Murder shall not be graphically shown or justified. Revenge is prohibited and murderers must not be sympathetic.
8. Oaths shall not be muttered, save in reverence.
9. Nudity is never permitted.
10. Religions shall never be ridiculed.
11. Illegal drug traffic shall not be depicted.
12. Sex perversions are never permitted.
In addition toSpartacus’s andLolita’s obvious violations of these Production Code restrictions-which occasioned many negotiations and subsequent changes in the script—Kubrick had to deal with the rating system of the Roman Catholic Legion of Decency. The Legion of Decency was formed in April 1934 by the Catholic bishops of the United States to provide moral guidance for practicing Catholics. The legion rated films in four categories: unobjectionable for general patronage; unobjectionable for adults; objectionable in part; and condemned. Although the legion had no legal authority, its threats of box-office boycotts of “objectionable” films carried considerable weight in Hollywood.
Because of the sexual perversions implied inLolita,the Roman Catholic Legion of Decency placedLolitaon its “condemned” list (any Catholic who saw such “lewd” pictures would be committing a sin in the eyes of the church). Historian Gregory D. Black discusses in detail the objections toLolitain his bookThe Catholic Crusade Against the Movies, 1940–1975.In this case Kubrick and his partner JAMES B. HARRIS hired Martin Quigley—frequently a mediator between film producers and the Legion of Decency—as a paid consultant “to guide them through the labyrinth of codes and Catholics. ” Eventually, after many changes, the film was approved by the MPAA. Certainly,Lolitaunderwent “changes of a vital nature” in order to avoid a “condemned” rating. The casting of Sue Lyon, for example, helped to mollify the Legion of Decency censors because the actress looked older than the 12- or 14-year old nymphet of the novel. (Meanwhile, the British Board of Censors gave the film anXcertificate, restricting the film to adult viewers. ) As forSpartacus,the homosexual implications in the “snails and oysters” scene between Crassus (LAURENCE OLIVIER) and Antoninus (TONY CURTIS) were also objected to (a scene later reinstated in the ROBERT A. HARRIS restoration). There is no question, according to historian Murray Schumach, that “this scene was killed because of the Legion. ” Indeed, continues Schumach,“ Some of the bloodiest violence was also eliminated for the same reason. ”This refers, in particular, to battle scenes displaying dismemberment of the soldiers. Kubrick had used dwarfs and armless men with breakaway prosthetic limbs to convey a realistic illusion. )
By the timeA Clockwork Orangewas released in 1971, the Production Code had been replaced by Jack Valenti’s Ratings Administration. ItsXrating went to films of an exceptional, or even pornographic, violent and/or sexual nature. This seriously impaired a film’s box office potential, as many newspapers refused to run advertisements for X-rated films.A Clockwork Orangewas given anXrating which Kubrick strongly protested, but to no avail. Meanwhile, in London the film was also given anXcertificate for its British release. Ironically, the severest act of censorship directed against the film came from Kubrick himself. In 1974, after an eruption in Britain of violent actions allegedly inspired by the film, Kubrick, who was highly disturbed by these allegations (and who was fearful of reprisals upon his family), ordered WARNER BROS. to remove it from circulation—perhaps the only instance in which a filmmaker had the clout to demand a major studio impose such a ban.
References
■ Black, Gregory D. ,The Catholic Crusade Against the Movies, 1940–1975(New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997);
■ Gardner, Gerald,The Censorship Papers(New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1987);
■ Schumach, Murray,The Face on the Cutting Room Floor(New York:William Morrow and Company, 1964).
J. C. T. andJ. M. W.

  1. censorship—мед.сущ. самоконтроль Англорусский медицинский словарь....Англо-русский медицинский словарь
  2. censorship—censorship translation nounADJECTIVE strict government military state wartime Internet media political press official VERB CENSORSHIP impose The government has...Collocations dictionary
  3. censorship—censorship bersetzung censorship Zensur f...Englisch-Deutsch Worterbuch gesetz
  4. censorship—Censorship translation During the period of partition films in the Polish territories were censored according to the laws of the occupying powers. After regaining indepen...Guide to cinema
  5. censorship—Censorship translation The GottschedNeuberstrong reforms of the s had firmly established in both the public and the aristocratic consciousness that theater was a moral in...Historical dictionary of German Theatre
  6. censorship—Censorship translation Film censorship regulations were first introduced in Italy in by a law that established the requirement for all films to be furnished with an offi...Historical dictionary of Italian cinema
  7. censorship—Censorship translation Freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution of each Scandinavian country. Under the absolutist monarchs who ruled prior to the establis...Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature and Theater
  8. censorship—Censorship translation Official film censorship in Spain started in and remained in place as an explicit system to control artistic expression enforced in one form or an...Historical dictionary of Spanish cinema
  9. censorship—Censorship translation During the period of the Republicin the th and th centuries censorship of the press was in the hands of local and re gional authorities. The States...Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands
  10. censorship—CENSORSHIP translation Censorship in modern Japan has served as both a political expedient wielded by government as well as a selfregulating tool used by the publishing h...Japanese literature and theater
  11. censorship—censorship translationSee armed forces censorship civil censorship field press censorship national censorship primary censorship prisoner of war censorship secondary cens...Military dictionary
  12. censorship—censorship translationSynonyms and related wordsabbreviation abridgment bamboo curtain barrier of secrecy blackout block blockage blocking bluepenciling bowdlerization ca...Moby Thesaurus
  13. censorship—censorship translation The censoring of theatre existed from its beginnings and in America this proclivity initially stemmed from Puritans who viewed the stage as a den o...The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater
  14. censorship—[sensp]цензурацензорцензура подавление подсознательных влечений...Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь
  15. censorship—цензура...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  16. censorship—цензура...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  17. censorship—военная цензура воен....Англо-русский словарь военных терминов
  18. censorship—n усечение цензура...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  19. censorship—censorship [sensp] nu цензура должность цензора...Англо-русский словарь Мюллера
  20. censorship—сущ. цензура государственный надзор за печатью и средствами массовой информации to impose introduce censorship вводить цензуру to exercise practice censorship осуществ...Англо-русский словарь общей лексики
  21. censorship—цензура должность цензора...Англо-русский словарь по патентам и товарным знакам
  22. censorship—Цензура censorship of advertisement censorship of press preliminary censorship...Англо-русский словарь по полиграфии
  23. censorship—n .strong цензура .strong пост и срок полномочий цензора .strong в психоанализе внутренняя цензура сознания термин введен З. Фрейдом проявляющаяся в томampGTфункциями эг...Англо-русский словарь по социологии
  24. censorship—стат.цензурирование усечение...Англо-русский словарь по экономике
  25. censorship—nto be subjected to censorship подвергаться цензуреto employ strict censorship применять строгую цензуруto impose to introduce censorship on smthem устанавливать вво...Англо-русский словарь политической терминологии
  26. censorship—n. цензура должность цензора...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  27. censorship—сущ.emstrong цензура пост и срок полномочий цензора в психоанализе внутренняя цензура сознания термин введен З. Фрейдом проявляющаяся в том что функциями эго и суперэго ...Англо-русский социологический словарь
  28. censorship—цензорство...Англо-русский технический словарь
  29. censorship—сущ. пол. цензура система государственного надзора за печатью и средствами массовой информацииem strict press censorship [censorship of the press\] жесткая цензура пресс...Англо-русский экономический словарь
  30. censorship—цензура должность цензора...Англо-русский юридический словарь
  31. censorship—n цензура посада цензора...Англо-украинский словарь
  32. censorship—цензура посада цензора censorship for national security reasons цензура з мркувань нацонально безпеки censorship committee censorship limitations censorship of obscenit...Англо-украинский юридический словарь
  33. censorship—n цензура...Англо-український дипломатичний словник
  34. censorship—цензура...Англо-український словник
  35. censorship—n цензура посада цензора....Англо-український словник Балла М.І.
  36. censorship—цензура посада цензора censorship for national security reasons цензура з мркувань нацонально безпеки censorship committeecensorship limitationscensorship of obscenityce...Англо-український юридичний словник
  37. censorship—Цензура. Краткий толковый словарь по полиграфии....Краткий толковый словарь по полиграфии
  38. censorship—[sensp] n. цензура. ист. пост и срок полномочий цензора в Древнем Риме. censor I...Новый большой англо-русский словарь
  39. censorship—censorship [sensp] ni . цензура . ист. iпост и срок полномочий цензора в Древнем Римеi . censor I...Новый большой англо-русский словарь II
  40. censorship—sensp n . цензура . ист. emпост и срок полномочий цензора в Древнем Римеem . censor I...Новый большой англо-русский словарь под общим руководством акад. Ю.Д. Апресяна