“Scared is what you're feeling. Brave
is what you're doing.” ~~Emma Donoghue, Room
Hi all,
So one thing I'll say for this strange period we're living
in... it's destroyed my attention span and focus. I
begin my non-work days convinced I'll get this, that, and this
done. And instead I accomplish nothing except watching
YouTube videos, playing games, or, on a good day, maybe
writing a couple paragraphs of a story. During a few of
those aimless days, I binge-watched Netflix's Hollywood.
I'm not going to say too much about it except it sort of
revolved around flaunting the Hays Code. For those who
don't know, the Hays Code was a series of rules that American
movies needed to adhere to. Its heyday was in the 30s
and 40s. Anyway, Hollywood showed why the Hays
Code was bad. But as I watched and read up on the Code,
it hit a lot closer to home when I thought about what all I
would have to cut if the Dyeland stories had been under the
control of the Hays Code.
So... come along with me, if you wish, on this weird, little
game of "What if..."
God bless,
Jenni
Stuff in Dyeland Stories That Would
Violate the Hays Code
1. "Crime and immorality could never be portrayed in a
positive light."
I think the Dyeland stories actually would, more or less, work
with this. I'm not sure that the people behind the Code
would have been overly happy with the promise of redemption held
out to some characters (Nen, Tzila, Beatrice, Yehuda, Cameron)
but maybe they would have been fine with it given all of those
characters have to walk a difficult path first. But many
other "baddies" in the stories are punished. Behnam's
uncle is shot to death, Rex Remus is locked up as are the
traffickers, Derek loses his family and position of power in his
community on top of getting chewed out by Joshua, Archbishop
Wesson is forced to step down, and so on. There are likely
some more minor characters that just kind of drop off the map
but none of them are celebrated in any way.
2. "Films could only present
'correct standards of life' (for the times) unless the plot
called for something else."
What does that even mean? And if it's in the plot then
wouldn't it mean the plot called for it? I can make some
guesses here but what I'm thinking of also figures into other
rules so I'll just skip over that one...
3. "The law had to be respected and
upheld."
I think our heroes are pretty law-abiding! Or at least
when they're not it's in the Joshuan sense of disobeying a
human-made law to follow a G0d-made law.
4. "Nudity and overt portrayals and
references to sexual behavior (even between consenting adults)
could not be shown."
Ha! It's kinda funny to think about how much would
actually need to be removed from Dyeland stories because of this
one when there are so many angels and saints running
around. So let's just do a highlight reel:
- The part in "The Carpenter" where Joshua and Co. go to a
raucous night club where Emma dances suggestively... gone!
- A lot of the frank language in "Safe" would likely need to be
replaced by very problematic phrases like "defiled her" and
"stole her innocence."
- The discussion of purity culture in "The King" would likely be
canned.
- I have no idea how "Chrysalis" could possibly exist under the
Hays Code without being very much not what I want.
- Joshua's and JenniAnn's discussion of breastfeeding in
"Remembrance" would be doubly struck on account of dealing with
something that's (usually but not always) the aftermath of sex
AND involving Jesus and Mary in the discussion.
- Any scenes in which JenniAnn has her shirt off... shirt needs
to go back on.
- Sorry, Kim, but elements of Kemara's and Sean's courtship
would need to be toned down. Also nix the breastfeeding
stuff. And the twins' birth can only be shown in
silhouette, apparently.
- Mary of Magdala's and Lucius' love scene... double yikes
because they're an interracial couple and one's a saint.
- Even though no sex was had, Emma's and Peter's sleepovers in
"The Carpenter" and the fact that they lived together before
marriage... nope!
- Andrew and JenniAnn most certainly would not be allowed to
read a sex book in "Hope and Healing" and all discussions with
Max about sex would be turned into one scene where someone
winkingly alludes to "the birds and the bees" before it
dissolved into another scene.
- "Shadowlands"... Nen and Tzila would probably be turned
into petty crooks which would really lower the stakes of that
story way, way down. (If memory serves, that is actually
the story I was most tempted to subject to my own Hays
Code. I mean it's really, really dark at points...)
And I could go on...
5. "Religion could never be depicted
in a mocking manner."
So given that even still today some people think Jesus
Christ Superstar is blasphemous, I highly doubt it would
have existed at all in the Hays Code era. And, even if it
had somehow gotten through (maybe since it wasn't filmed in the
U.S.), "The Carpenter" likely wouldn't have been allowed to
depict Joshua as participating in a production of it. I
also don't have a good feel on if the character of Joshua would
even be allowed to exist since he jokes, dances, gets teased,
etc. Jesus is awfully prim and proper in older films.
What I can say with some confidence is that Joshua's real entry
into the Dyeland stories would have been different. When
he appears in "The Butterfly," it's to counsel Fr. Mike who is
dealing with the aftermath of an abusive priest. But it
seems like the Hays Code wouldn't have allowed for any such
thing. Villainous literary characters who were also
religious leaders were turned into politicians in Hays Code-era
films. So, obviously, "Broken Hallelujahs" would be
absolutely out of the question.
6. "Drug use, including alcohol
consumption, could not be shown unless the plot called for
it."
I can't think of any edits that would be particularly painful
except for the loss of Joshua's True Vine Winery. For the
most part, drinking is kept at a minimum and always engaged in
responsibly among the main characters. When alcoholism or
drug use does come up, it's never shown as a good thing... the
former is clearly a problem for Mason in "Broken
Hallelujahs." In Kim's "To Love Another Person," marijuana
use is very briefly mentioned in a rather sympathetic way just
as an example of how minor offenses can sometimes, unfairly,
lead to major jail time. Very reasonable, IMO, but I doubt
the Hays Code folks would agree.
Ah... The vampire stuff would have been pretty difficult
to pull off, come to think of it. Especially come
"Immortality" when the semi-cure that Joshua gives Josef is a
form of wine (but also his blood). I guess it depends on
how friendly the moral guardians were feeling towards Catholic
theology that day.
7. "All detailed (that is, imitable)
depiction of crime had to be removed. This included
lockpicking, safe-cracking, or the mixing of chemicals to make
explosives."
If you can think of a Dyeland story that involved any of that,
please let me know. Because that would be a surprise...
8. "Films could not use revenge as a
theme or premise in stories set during modern times, since it
could be seen as glorifying violence (specifically murder)."
I can't really think of any revenge plots... The closest
that comes to mind is Behnam shooting his uncle but given that
happens within the context of the uncle trying to rape Isra, I
don't personally feel that counts. Andrew has sometimes
voiced his desire for revenge on Rex but he's never even come
close to trying to get that. It's just something that
comes out during really weak, down moments. I'd say the
same was experienced by some characters after Joshua was
shot. But no one set out to harm Cameron.
9. "Topics considered "perverse"
could not be discussed or depicted in any way. Such topics
included—but were not limited to— homosexuality, miscegenation
(interracial relationships), bestiality, and venereal
diseases."
And everything comes crashing down horribly... :-(
So let's go in order...
Owen and Graham would not be allowed to exist as a couple.
I'm deeply doubtful that they or Shane would be allowed to exist
even as solitary characters if they were "out." Reuel
would also be viewed as very problematic. Granted, he was
not in a sexual relationship with Rafiq but they are anam caras
and I don't think that would fly.
The ban on interracial relationships would mean that Eli and
Sophia, Emma and Peter, Mary and Lucius, and Ivy and Sy would
not be allowed. But, more than that, I doubt some of those
characters would even be depicted. And, perhaps worst of
all, it's very likely that Joshua and his entire family would be
portrayed by white actors and only white actors. We're
decades past the Hays Code and it's still very, very common for
Middle Eastern characters to be portrayed by non-Middle Eastern
actors.
But let's pretend Joshua was allowed to be portrayed by an actor
of Middle Eastern descent. Would any of the white
characters be allowed to kiss him? Would it have been
permissible for Emma, who is white, to have been depicted as
being in love with him in JCS? I'm not sure.
The Dyeland stories most definitely do not depict
bestiality. But I'm not sure relationships between angels
and humans would have been viewed as any better. That
would put Andrew and JenniAnn and Arthur and Monica on very,
very shaky, very, very limited ground.
And Vincent and Catherine? Given some people got up in
arms about presumed bestiality even back in the 80s when their
show was on, I doubt they would have stood a chance in the 30s
and 40s even with Joshua stressing that Vincent has a genetic
condition and is fully human. So Lor and Cora and Avi and
Evie wouldn't stand a chance, either.
I feel like Mick and Beth and Josef and Sarah and later
Amber-Marie and Logan and Zelda would also be a really hard
sell.
At that point, I really wouldn't have much to work with and
would probably have thrown in the towel.
As for VD, I don't think I've ever really dealt with it except
in rather vague references in the stories that deal with human
trafficking but, as mentioned above, those stories likely
wouldn't have been allowed in any form I would have approved of
anyway.
10. "The sanctity of marriage had to
be upheld."
No matter how necessary, I don't think Kylie's divorce and
remarriage would have been accepted. Kinda ironic because
I think Clay would have been a character who would have been
pretty popular in the WWII era.
I also have a feeling that Joshua's blessing ceremonies for anam
caras might have been seen as mocking marriage. Too bad.
I probably also would have been blacklisted for having Joshua at
a wedding between two men. Heck, there are people now who
would probably say I was a heretic for that.
11. "Blasphemy—including using the
name of God as an expletive or exclamation—was not allowed.
Using the word 'God' was allowed, but only if used in a
reverent tone or meaning. In addition, profanity of any kind
was prohibited."
No specific examples come to mind although I'm sure there are
some. Adam occasionally says "damn" because he said it on
TBAA and I was impressed. :-) I think I have had the
occasional character take God's name in vain or say something
not very respectful (a la Mason and Emma) so that I could later
show how much they've changed and drawn closer to God.
Probably that reasoning wouldn't have gotten me very far back in
the day, though.
12. "The United States flag was to
be treated with utmost respect."
I'm not actually sure the U.S. flag ever makes an appearance,
come to think of it. I don't think it's ever been
mistreated in a Dyeland story in any case.
So yeah... I'm glad online fiction doesn't have to deal
with anything like the Hays Code!
This newsletter is dedicated to John Dye
and the rest of the cast and crew of TBAA who definitely took
some chances! I'm still so glad they produced "The
Violin Lesson," for one.
JABB
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