F*** The Stutz-Bearcat: An Alternate TL of Film

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The Hays Code was a set of rules that enforced censorship on the American cinema in response to the increase of public complaints about the lewd content of movies and the scandalous behavior of Hollywood movie stars. The increasingly liberal content of Hollywood films, and the scandals surrounding famous movie stars, led to a media frenzy. The public outcry was so great that the federal government were seriously considering the establishment of a national censorship board. To prevent this happening Hollywood moguls and the movie studios decided to voluntarily censor films themselves.

A list of production directives were established by a Hollywood board led by Will Hays, a former US Postmaster General, and the President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA). In 1930 Will Hays produced a list of rules and guidelines called "The Don'ts and Be Carefuls" which the Hays Code was based on. Its official name was the Code to Govern the Making of Talking, Synchronized and Silent Motion Pictures. The Hays Code was set aside in 1965 when the MPPDA adopted the age-based rating system that is in force today.

First published in March 1930, the Motion Picture Production Code (popularly known as the Hays Code after its creator Will H.Hays) was the first attempt at introducing film censorship in the US through laying down a series of guidelines to film producers.

The Code was founded according to the concept: "if motion pictures present stories that will affect lives for the better, they can become the most powerful force for the improvement of mankind" - the clear implication being that films were signally failing to achieve these lofty aims.

The Code was based on three general principles:

- No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
- Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.
- Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

These were developed in a series of rules grouped under the self-explanatory headings Crimes Against The Law, Sex, Vulgarity, Obscenity, Profanity, Costume, Dances (i.e. suggestive movements), Religion, Locations (i.e. the bedroom), National Feelings, Titles and "Repellent Subjects" (extremely graphic violence).

See: https://www.ranker.com/list/weird-hays-code-rules/rebecca-shortall

So what if those rules and regulations had never been created for Hollywood???
 
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The Hays Code was a set of rules that enforced censorship on the American cinema in response to the increase of public complaints about the lewd content of movies and the scandalous behavior of Hollywood movie stars. The increasingly liberal content of Hollywood films, and the scandals surrounding famous movie stars, led to a media frenzy. The public outcry was so great that the federal government were seriously considering the establishment of a national censorship board. To prevent this happening Hollywood moguls and the movie studios decided to voluntarily censor films themselves.

A list of production directives were established by a Hollywood board led by Will Hays, a former US Postmaster General, and the President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA). In 1930 Will Hays produced a list of rules and guidelines called "The Don'ts and Be Carefuls" which the Hays Code was based on. Its official name was the Code to Govern the Making of Talking, Synchronized and Silent Motion Pictures. The Hays Code was set aside in 1965 when the MPPDA adopted the age-based rating system that is in force today.

First published in March 1930, the Motion Picture Production Code (popularly known as the Hays Code after its creator Will H.Hays) was the first attempt at introducing film censorship in the US through laying down a series of guidelines to film producers.

The Code was founded according to the concept: "if motion pictures present stories that will affect lives for the better, they can become the most powerful force for the improvement of mankind" - the clear implication being that films were signally failing to achieve these lofty aims.

The Code was based on three general principles:

- No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
- Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.
- Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

These were developed in a series of rules grouped under the self-explanatory headings Crimes Against The Law, Sex, Vulgarity, Obscenity, Profanity, Costume, Dances (i.e. suggestive movements), Religion, Locations (i.e. the bedroom), National Feelings, Titles and "Repellent Subjects" (extremely graphic violence).

See: https://www.ranker.com/list/weird-hays-code-rules/rebecca-shortall

So what if those rules and regulations had never been created for Hollywood???

Okay ladies and gentlemen, let's see what we can do.
 
So, we're doing the usual format or try something else?
If anything, The idea is to start with ATL PODs, with none further back than 1920, but attempt to see if the films for the collaborative timeline can be drawn all the way into the 2020s. If anything, also lets be realistic. At many points in the TL roughly every 20 years, there will be pushes to regulate or censor the films and shows...
 
If anything, The idea is to start with ATL PODs, with none further back than 1920, but attempt to see if the films for the collaborative timeline can be drawn all the way into the 2020s. If anything, also lets be realistic. At many points in the TL roughly every 20 years, there will be pushes to regulate or censor the films and shows...

But we should have the exact POD first before we do anything.
 
Perhaps we can take this into consideration:

You'd need to avoid the 1915 supreme court ruling for that, once that happened the writing was on the wall the second Hollywood started trying to really push the boundrys on anything. That it was gangster violence that finally saw the code enforced (among other things) was little but an accident of timing.
 
But we should have the exact POD first before we do anything.

Well, I did a little digging into the subject and found that Wikipedia points to the scandals of the early 1920s such as the unsolved murder of William Desmond Taylor and the alleged rape of Virginia Rappe. Working those away could give Hollywood a better reputation (not to mention that the allegations surrounding Rappe's death had demolished Fatty Aburckle's career, so that's a bonus save.)
 
Well, I did a little digging into the subject and found that Wikipedia points to the scandals of the early 1920s such as the unsolved murder of William Desmond Taylor and the alleged rape of Virginia Rappe. Working those away could give Hollywood a better reputation (not to mention that the allegations surrounding Rappe's death had demolished Fatty Aburckle's career, so that's a bonus save.)

OOOHHH MMMYYYYY GGGGGOOOOOODDDDD!!!!!!!
*Ahem* Apologies sir.

Anyway, perhaps the POD can be somewhere between those events.
 
So what if those rules and regulations had never been created for Hollywood???
Maybe an earlier and more enforced rating system? The thing is this before proper ID means, so a old looking teen can sneak into a more adult movie. For me a well regulated and enforced rating system would keep the ideas of the pre-code to the respective market
 
Is this good?:

POD: September 5, 1921: Fatty Arbuckle took a break from his film schedule and decided not to attend an party he hosted at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco due to suffering second-degree burns to both buttocks from an accident on set,...
 
Is this good?:

POD: September 5, 1921: Fatty Arbuckle took a break from his film schedule and decided not to attend an party he hosted at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco due to suffering second-degree burns to both buttocks from an accident on set,...

Here's another:

February 2, 1922: William Desmond Taylor is found at his bungalow in Westlake, Los Angeles surviving an attempted murder by an unknown murderer, with the chase all around the city ending with the killer's face impaled and mutated on his neighbor's sword, sparking international attention and concern,...
 
Consider that the some of the changes:

November 20, 1931: I Am A Fugutive From A Chain Gang directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Paul Muni, makes its hit debut, detailing brutal prison conditions in the South, sparking calls for political change,....

September 16, 1932: Blonde Venus starring Marlene Dietrich, directed by Frank Capra, makes its hit debut, sensationalizing the rise of prostitution and pornography in Great Depression America, sparking international attention,...

March 31, 1933: Gabriel Over the White House directed by Gregory La Cava, is seen as a powerful indictment against the policies of Herbert Hoover, and a supportive manifesto for the Roosevelt Administration,....

April 30, 1934: Hitler's Reign of Terror documentary by Michael Mindlin, reveals the rise of anti-Semitism and violence in Germany, sparking calls for a ban by American Nazi Party members and the KKK, sparking international attention,....
 
So, can anyone help me with this?

(Insert date here): (Insert name here) creates the International Motion Picture Association (IMPA) film rating system in response to the rise of "undesirable Hollywood shenanigans" and the "invasion of non-white entertainment", sparking international attention,...

(Insert date here) 1950s/1960s: (insert name here) introduces the (insert name here) that calls for the banning of any film with "morally questionable content" and will overwrite MPAA under U.S. law; critics warns that if the law is passed, then it'll ban every movie above PG-13,...
 
And here are some of the PODs...

So, can anyone help me with this?

May 26, 1952: William F. Buckley (R-NY) creates the International Motion Picture Association (IMPA) film rating system in response to the rise of "undesirable Hollywood shenanigans" and the "invasion of non-white entertainment", sparking international attention,...

May 1, 1966: Jerry Falwell Sr., of Lynchburg, Virginia, introduces the "Traditional Family Values" Amendment during "I Love America" rallies that calls for the banning of any film with "morally questionable content" and will overwrite MPAA under U.S. law; critics warns that if the law is passed, then it'll ban every movie above PG-13,...
 
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