Morally Offensive
Since the 1930s, the Legion of Decency, later reformed as the National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures (NCOMP), sought not only to offer moral guidance for Catholic filmgoers, but to influence film production in America itself. Through the dreaded ”C” rating, later changed to ”O” for ”Morally Offensive”, the legion heavily influenced film censorship, up until the dissolution of the Hayes Code and collapse of the studio system in Hollywood. The ratings system exists to this day, with recent popular favorites from Poor Things to John Wick receiving the fatal mark. These days, the ”O” rating is reserved for subscribers to niche Catholic online news sources and magazines, but before the 1970s, the ”C” rating could doom a production for a film studio. Even if a film wasn’t condemned upon release, the threat of a ”C” could be used to force self-censorship onto Hollywood directors, from Billy Wilder’s ”The Seven Year Itch” to Elia Kazan’s ”A Streetcar Named Desire”. Hosts Bill and Cisco delve into their own cradle Catholic experiences, as they ask the question: ”Are these films actually Morally Offensive?”
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Episodes
Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Saturday Nov 16, 2024
It shouldn't be surprising that an episode about William Friedkin's The Exorcist would be plagued with technical problems (if you believe in that kind of thing) but the episode is finally live! Cisco makes Bill watch a film that he has put off seeing for years, due to a deep-seated fear of the devil and the demonic. Bill gives his first reactions, and the guys get into the post-Exorcist panic over demons (and consequent spike in exorcisms in the US), the increase in the number of Exorcists in the US, and the film's troubled production. Tangents include why Bill has never played Dungeons and Dragons, Hot priests, New Age synth music as gateway to the devil, the actual Pope's Exorcist, and irrational Catholic fears over yoga.
Thursday Oct 31, 2024
Thursday Oct 31, 2024
For the pilot episode, Bill and Cisco discuss their respective Catholic upbringings, discuss censorship and the Hayes Code, and introduce the Legion of Decency and USCCB film ratings systems, before doing a deep dive into Richard Donner's The Omen.
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