– Night Call – Judith Crist Talks About the new Movie Rating system – December 13, 1968 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Much as the 60s represented changing values, changing ideas and a certain “freeing up” of society, it also represented the early planting of the seeds of backlash. That opposition to what was perceived as “America going to hell in a handbasket” – the widening generation gap – the growing opposition to the War in Vietnam, changing styles and fashion and a certain retaliation to the Youth Culture that was overtaking advertising and consumer products.
How could the older generation, who were losing their grip at an ever-increasing pace, hold on to what little vestiges of the past they had left. Those people who openly pined for the “good old days” and seethed with contempt at the site of anyone with long hair were looking for anything to retain control.
It wasn’t going to be music and it wasn’t going to be Television – they were both under the spell of Youth Culture. The only thing left were The Movies.
Ironically, it was just before the 1968 election that the MPAA instigated the Movie Rating System. It went from G,M,R to X – X being reserved for what was considered off limits to anyone under 17 without an adult and which gave many the impression those films were pornographic. The first two films to receive the X rating were Midnight Cowboy and A CLockwork Orange.
This episode of the call-in program Night Call features the well-known film critic Judith Crist. She lambasts the then-current state of film making and was very much in favor of these ratings and restrictions as a way of preserving film going as a family affair, where children could go and not worry parents the content might not be appropriate. She did go on to say that films were catering too much to the Youth Culture and, in their way, pushing the envelope.
Needless to say, the X rating of movies didn’t last that long and the system of rating was revamped. But the restrictions were in place and the generation gap continued to widen.
Here is that episode of Night Call from December 13, 1968.
And while you’re here . . .you know we don’t run ads – stopped running them more than a few years ago. The ads were noisy and pretty awful and they were a huge distraction, having to wade through a lot of useless barking in order to get to the good stuff. But we still have to pay the bills, and there’s a ton of them and they don’t like to wait. And so we ask you consider becoming a subscriber and support all the stuff we do every day by kicking in what amounts to being an Americano Grande every month to be part of the solution and not the problem. In todays bizarre economy it ain’t much – but it means a ton to Past Daily. All you have to do (and we make this as simple and pain-free as possible) is head over to Patreon (that red box just below that says “Become A Patron” that you click on) and check us out. You can do 7 days free just to kick the tires and take a test drive. And if you like us, hit the subscribe button and become part of our rather haywire little family. Not bad, considering we just want you to like us.
