9781422272664

CHAPTER

ENTERTAINMENT CONTROVERSY THROUGH HISTORY

For as long as there has been entertainment media, people have scrutinized it, expressing concern over content and whether there were pernicious elements in the work. The earliest such criticism goes back more than 2,500 years, when theatrical dramas began to take shape in ancient Greece. Since the early twentieth century, critics have focused on modern forms of entertainment, such as movies, television shows, popular music, and video games. The film industry, for example, was still in its infancy during the early 1920s, when some critics began to charge that movies promoted immoral behavior. They protested against films that depicted sexuality, violence, and other things that some Americans considered objectionable at the time, including interracial relationships, homosexuality, and—though this may seem strange today—the depiction of women as strong, independent characters. The backlash against the industry intensified when one of the biggest film stars of the time, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, was placed on trial for rape and manslaughter in 1921 and 1922. Although Arbuckle was acquitted, in 1922 a former politician named Will H. Hays was hired as head 1

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