Revised Plan, Outline, and Bibliography – Barbara

Final Research Paper Outline

 

This is my revised plan about my final research paper. I am writing about the history of censorship and how it has changed over time. We now have the ratings system and my argument is that censorship is necessary and it is time once again to alter the system a little bit.

 

I. Part of the intro:

On January 20, 2007 Dan Glickman, chairman of the MPAA, spoke to the Associated Press about changing the ratings system. He compared the ratings system to the United States Constitution by exclaiming that

 

“Like the U.S. Constitution _ and I’m not saying we’re the U.S. Constitution, of course _ the basic framework, the basic document has lasted for over 200 years. It’s been changed periodically but the fundamentals have remained. I personally see no need for what I call revolutionary change.” (Germain).

 

This makes sense because people cannot get used to a “revolutionary change” just like that, but the system needs some altering in order to go along with the society of today.

 

II. History of Censorship:

a.      Hays office and the Production Code

b.      The 1950s-60s: The need to transition (PCA-Joseph Breen retired in 1954 and Geoffrey Shurlock took over).

c.      Valenti and the start of the voluntary ratings system (explain what each means).

1.      October 7, 1968-G, M, R, X

2.      1970-M to GP

3.      1972-GP to PG

4.      1984-PG and PG-13

5.      1990-NC-17

III. Censorship of today

a.      Changes to the rating system since 1990-most important thing is education according to Glickman.

b.      CARA and the rules of ratings.

IV. The ratings creep

a.      What is happening to the boundaries that are used to rate movies?

1.      Leone’s study of comparison between PG-13 and R from 2000-2003.

2.      PG-13 most popular and makes most money so even PG movies putting in one word of profanity just to be PG-13.

3.      Comparison between R and NC-17, cutting little blips to be considered R

                                                              i.     Released R-rated movie on DVD as “unrated” with additional scenes.

V. Conclusion:

a.      Are the ratings working, and what can be done?

b.      Times change, so does censorship.

1.      Compare to times changing in the 50s (Lewis,114) and so on.

 

Peer reviewed articles:

 

Found in the Communication and Mass Media Complete Database:

 

Leone, Ron. Rated Sex: An Analysis of the MPAA’s Use of the R and NC-17 Ratings. Communication Research Reports, Winter 2004, Vol. 21 Issue 1, p68-74, 7p

 

Leone, Ron; Houle, Nicole. 21st Century Ratings Creep: PG-13 and R. Communication Research Reports, Jan2006, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p53-61, 9p, 1 chart

 

Leone, Ron; Osborn, Lynn. Hollywood’s Triumph and Parents’ Loss: An Examination of the PG-13 Rating.  Popular Communication, 2004, Vol. 2 Issue 2, p85-101, 17p

 

Found from ProQuest:

 

Mariea Grubbs Hoy,  J Craig Andrews. Entertainment Industry Ratings Disclosures and the Clear and Conspicuous Standard. The Journal of Consumer Affairs.  Madison: Summer 2006.  Vol. 40,  Iss. 1,  p. 117-143 (27 pp.)

 

Found in the George Mason University Fenwick Government Documents:

 

Rating entertainment ratings : how well are they working for parents and what can be done to improve them? : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, first session, July 25, 2001. Washington : U.S. G.P.O. : For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., [Congressional Sales Office], 2002.

 

Found on Medscape.com:

 

Kimberly M. Thompson, ScD; Fumie Yokota, PhD  Violence, Sex, and Profanity in Films: Correlation of Movie Ratings With Content. Medscape General Medicine.  2004;6(3):3.  ©2004 Medscape. Posted 07/12/2004

 

Books:

 

Black, Gregory D. Hollywood Censored: Morality Codes, Catholics, and the Movies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

 

Lewis, Jon. Hollywood v. hard core: how the struggle over censorship saved the modern film industry. New York: New York University, 2000.

 

Sandler, Kevin S. The naked truth : why Hollywood doesn’t make X-rated movies. New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, 2007.

 

Vaughn, Stephen. Freedom and Entertainment: rating the movies in an age of new media. New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006.

 

 

Websites:

 

http://www.filmratings.com/

 

www.mpaa.org/filmratings.asp/

 

http://www.natoonline.org/ratingslinks.htm