What the Code Means to Me – May: “What the Code Means to Me ~ Thoughts On Why I Appreciate It” by Movie Critic

This article was written by Movie Critic of Movies Meet Their Match. Her analysis of the Code’s influence and the assurance of decency it gives is the May entry in our guest series, What the Code Means to Me. It was originally published on her website here. Movie Critic, thank you for contributing the third article to our series exploring exploring other writers’ opinions on the Code!

Hello, film lovers!

Back in November, I was tagged for the Liebster Award by Tiffany Brannan, who is one of the writers at Pure Entertainment Preservation Society (PEPS). Along with the tag, she invited me to participate in her series What the Code Means to Me. I agreed and chose May for my month, and here we are! For more information on the series, click HERE.

The Code that we are talking about is the Motion Picture Production Code that was in place from 1934-1954 with Joseph Breen in charge. The Code regulated those movies to make sure that there was nothing that offended anyone.

What the Code Means to Me:

I love watching movies, that’s why I blog! And I’ve always loved to. At first I was only interested in musicals or animated movies. I couldn’t care less about the storyline.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been watching PG-13 movies. My mom always said that we (my sisters and I) could watch anything, as long as she had seen it. Most PG-13 movies are rated that way for crude humor, which we were too little to understand (which is a very good thing), or action, which we didn’t really mind.

In spite of that (or because of that, I don’t know) I am really sensitive to certain things. That is actually the reason that I review movies, I am very picky and I want other people who are picky like me to have some recommendations for good movies.

Now, I’m not saying that every movie should be carefree, not have any bad things, and everyone lives happily ever after. There would be nothing to write about. When I was little I thought movies would be better that way, but now I prefer dramas over comedies or musicals! I’m completely fine with bad things in movies as long as there are consequences for the people. It also irritates me when there is something there that isn’t needed, that the storyline was perfectly wonderful without, but the film makers were too lazy. My family always say “Look past it!” but it is hard with all of those distractions.

Last July, I learned about the Code through PEPS. Thinking about it, my favorite movie of all time, Singin’ in the Rain (1952) was made in the Code era!
That movie is so wonderful, I truly think that everyone should see it at some point. It is because of the Code that there is nothing wrong with it. Also, my third favorite movie, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) was made in the Code era, too!

I enjoy the Code because I can watch a decent movie of whatever genre that I’m in the mood for: a musical (The Wizard of Oz [1939]), a Disney animated film (Cinderella [1950]), a drama (Casablanca [1942]), or a comedy (Bringing Up Baby [1938]).

Whenever someone recommends a movie to me, I look at the year it was made and when it is between 1934-1954 I want to watch it ASAP because I know that it will be good. I recently watched The Philadelphia Story (1941) and I was worried about what it might have in there. I shouldn’t have been, it was perfectly okay! Why? Because it is a Code film!

I like movies from other years too, some newer movies are some of my favorites, but I now know that because so much care was put into making Code films, they are going to be enjoyable.

For Code movie recommendations check out the Pure Entertainment Preservation Society website.

What do you think of Code movies? Do you have a favorite? Thanks for reading!

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We are lifting our voices in classical song to help the sun rise on a new day of pure entertainment!

Only the Code can make the sun rise on a new day of pure entertainment!