According to filmmaker John Waters, "Bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation." Is there really such a thing as "appropriate" entertainment? Are there boundaries that should never be crossed? In the 1930s, the Hays Office, Hollywood's watchdog, declared, "Wrong entertainment lowers the whole living conditions and moral ideals of a race." But who is responsible for determining these ideals? This class considers the U.S. film industry's attempts at regulation, from the 1930s Production Code to the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s to the current ratings system. Students examine cinema's relationship with censorship and the larger notion of moral responsibility in artistic expression. Students must view assigned films on their own.

According to filmmaker John Waters, "Bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation." Is there really such a thing as "appropriate" entertainment? Are there boundaries that should never be crossed? In the 1930s, the Hays Office, Hollywood's watchdog, declared, "Wrong entertainment lowers the whole living conditions and moral ideals of a race." But who is responsible for determining these ideals? This class considers the U.S. film industry's attempts at regulation, from the 1930s Production Code to the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s to the current ratings system. Students examine cinema's relationship with censorship and the larger notion of moral responsibility in artistic expression. Students must view assigned films on their own.

According to filmmaker John Waters, "Bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation." Is there really such a thing as "appropriate" entertainment? Are there boundaries that should never be crossed? In the 1930s, the Hays Office, Hollywood's watchdog, declared, "Wrong entertainment lowers the whole living conditions and moral ideals of a race." But who is responsible for determining these ideals? This class considers the U.S. film industry's attempts at regulation, from the 1930s Production Code to the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s to the current ratings system. Students examine cinema's relationship with censorship and the larger notion of moral responsibility in artistic expression. Students must view assigned films on their own.