White Men and the Pandering of American Media (Pt. 2): Defining the Other

How White-Owned Entertainment Media Portrayed Others (To Make White Men Look Good By Default)

Pt. 1 is here: white-men-and-the-pandering-of-american-media-pt-1-the-white-male-default

Before we discuss the depiction of other groups in Hollywood media we need to discuss a little bit of Hollywood history from the 1930s, The Hays Code, which was a self imposed set of guidelines that the industry used in making content decisions in moviemaking from 1934 to 1968.

Before the Stock Market Crash that came about through the excesses of the Gilded Age, that era was pretty racy and affluent and this was reflected in films. Hollywood tried to lure in viewers with lots of sex, violence, and sheer spectacle. However, after the Crash, there was a return to Conservatism and this was reflected in the introduction of the Hays Code, named after William H. Hays, the President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America.

The Hays Code prohibited certain gender depictions, nudity, graphic violence, and profanity. It had rules about how religion could be depicted, expressions of national sentiment, crime and criminals, and regulated costumes and wardrobes. Before the Hays Code was imposed many films were very progressive, presenting liberated women…