#actually learning abt the structure of film censorship will give you a more holistic understanding of WHY things are depicted certain ways

[commiegoth]

I find it really annoying how frequently the Hays Code is nebulously evoked in discussions of "puritanism" in media (a term defined here as "whatever the op wants it to mean") without much critical understanding of exactly how directly the Hays Code has indeed informed our contemporary ideas of minority representation and depictions of sexuality in film. It's not just an abstract idea of conservativism, it was a very specific structure of film censorship in the US that materially shaped the fundamentals of the medium as we understand them to this day. Especially when people fearmonger over anyone "bringing back" the Hays Code as if the present MPAA isn't already built off the same ideology! Like... You do not know what you're talking about here lol.