| This dissertation focuses on group protests and governmental actions against movies produced, distributed, and exhibited in America during the years 1980-1992; it also provides an overview of censorship and protest throughout American film history.; Film censorship is defined as a practice by institutions or groups that results in the removal of a scene, or a film in its entirety, from the marketplace. Three forms of pressure against movies are considered: governmental actions; industry self-regulation; and group protests. The last of these comprises the primary form examined; it is also the most difficult to locate. This work considers the points where protest groups are censorious and where they actually achieve censorship.; This study divides into five chapters, each of which surveys American film censorship with reference to one of the following subject areas: sex, politics, race, religion, and homosexuality. These imagery categories at times overlap, yet each represents a separate narrative, establishing an historical context for the censorship struggles examined more closely with a single contemporary film in each chapter. Chapter one focuses on feminists' protests against Dressed to Kill (1980); Chapter Two, on the government's decision to label the Canadian documentary If You Love This Planet (1982) "Political Propaganda"; Chapter Three, on Asian Americans against Year of the Dragon (1985); Chapter Four, on religious groups against The Last Temptation of Christ (1988); and Chapter Five, on gays and lesbians against Basic Instinct (1992).; During the years 1980-1992 the cultural arena as represented by movie production, distribution, and exhibition became a highly charged political one. Groups on the political left and right that protested against movies, and in one instance the government's action against a film, were all censorious. This study concludes that only the Religious Right achieved censorship following protests against The Last Temptation of Christ. All protests, however, added to a censorious climate and appear to have influenced some filmmakers to create ideologically correct films, while others have displayed a new sensitivity toward minorities. |
