Movies - Banned films

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	Movies - Banned films

For nearly the entire history of film and movie production, certain films have been either boycotted by political and religious groups or literally banned by a regime for political or moral reasons. Paradoxically, banning a movie often completely fails to achieve its intention of preventing a movie from being seen—the publicity given worldwide to banned movies often results in it being given attention it might not otherwise receive.

With the advent of the Internet, the ability of groups or governments to ban a film is hindered. High-speed Internet access and better file compression give more people access to digital copies of movies that might not be available for viewing in theaters.

Banning versus censoring

Many governments have commissions to censor and/or rate productions for film and television exhibition. From a government standpoint, the censoring of films is more effective than banning, because it limits the scope of potentially dangerous or subversive cinema without overtly limiting freedom of speech.

In the United States, there has never been national censorship. However, currently the motion picture industry maintains the MPAA Ratings, which are issued to individual films submitted to the MPAA as a means of identifying those with content not considered suitable for children and/or teenagers. The MPAA system is purely voluntary, for both movie makers and theaters. However, almost all theaters in the U.S. use the MPAA system, and many will refuse to show films which are unrated. From 1930 to 1964 film censorship boards did exist on state and/or local levels in some venues in the USA. The MPAA attempted to satisfy requirements of these disparate boards by creating films the Motion Picture Production Code in the late 1920s, another voluntary system designed and implemented by the MPAA. Films were either approved or not under the Code, and those that were generally had little or no problems passing muster with state or local censors.

Timeline

Australia

Historically, possibly the country with the most banned films. The Queensland Film Office, for example, has banned at least 174 films since 1974. Australia's OFLC (Office of Film and Literature Classification), is responsible for much of the censorship, however each state and territory is free to make additional legislation. See also Censorship in Australia.

In recent years, only films claimed to glorify rape and paedophilia are banned, and in practice even these get a short cinematic run before the legality kicks in. Of course, broadband Internet access allows people who want to watch such films to do so.

1907
Victorian Chief Secretary bans screenings of The Story of the Kelly Gang
in Benalla and Wangaratta.

1911
exhibition of The Story of the Kelly Gang film banned in Adelaide.

1912
New South Wales police department banned the production of bushranger films.

1928
to 1941
: Chief Censor Creswell O'Reilly and his board ban many movies in this period, including Dawn, Klondike Annie (starring Mae West
), Applause (it contained chorus girls), Compulsory Hands, Cape Forlorn, The Ladies Man
(sexual overtones), White Cargo (interracial theme), The Five Year Plan (discussed communism), All Quiet on the Western Front
, Gang Bullets, Each Dawn I Die
, Hell's Kitchen (three US gangster films), The King and the Chorus Girl, The Birth of a Baby ("not in the public interest"), Green Pastures, Susan and God (blasphemy), Reefer Madness and Of Mice and Men
(sex and violence in combination).

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Banned films ]

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