You are not going to f#$%ing believe this: we have another Hollywood-themed episode for you! This time, though, we’re moving past the Hollywood Blacklist and looking at a different kind of censorship: the movie ratings system. That’s right, we’re doing a deep dive into who exactly is behind that four capital letter organization you see next to each rating, and why we’re stuck with the system we’ve got. So buckle in and get ready, because s*&%’s about to get crazy here at This Was A Thing.

Rob teaches Ray about the origins of art censorship across the globe, and the different approaches countries have taken over the centuries; how the United States decided that motion pictures needed a similar kind of oversight; the infamous Hayes code, and the man behind it; why the church actually disapproved of certain parts of the government intervention; Ray’s favorite Steven Spielberg and MPAA story; and how ratings continue to impact a film’s commercial success, despite claims to the contrary.

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TEAM

Ray Hebel

Robert W. Schneider

Mark Schroeder

Billy Recce

Daniel Schwartzberg

Gabe Crawford

Natalie DeSavia

ARTICLESEPISODE CLIPS

Pre Code Hollywood

Firing Line With William F. Buckley Jr.: Censorship and the Production Code

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Full Movie

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf - Getting Angry, Baby?

Girl on a Motorcycle 1968 Trailer

This Film Is Not Yet Rated Part 1

Trumbo (2015) - Writing for the King Brothers Scene (3/10) | Movieclips

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) - Trailer Hd 1080p

X Rating Press Conference at Mpaa - Silverlight Entertainment

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) Trailer 1

This Film Is Not Yet Rated Trailer

ADDITIONAL MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS

“Happy Bee,” “Teddy Bear Waltz,” “Chipper,” “Retro Future Nasty,” and “Rocket”

• Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional Sound Effects from Final Cut Pro, iLife, and Logic Pro