The real question here is: are the boomers correct?

Well of course, I really just want to say no and end it there, but ‘apparently’ that isn’t well-rounded enough. In the words of every piece of feedback I’ve ever been given: let’s go into more detail.

Old people have been emotionally scarred by fictional stories since the dawn of filmmaking. It always seems to revolve around violence, no matter if the film is actually violent or not. 

Let’s try this again.

Moral panic has presented itself in countless forms – dating as far back as the Salem Witch Trials (I guess I could’ve gone further toward the Jesus route, but that’s a whole other can of worms). There’s always been levels to it, but it typically shakes down as follows: 

1. Concern – an event occurs that sparks social anxiety.
2. Hostility – a subculture is seen as ‘folk devils’ who are looked upon with hostility.
3. Consensus – fear of this subculture becomes the dominant narrative in media and social discussion.
4. Disproportionality – The threat is exaggerated
5. Volatility – A moral panic emerges and disappears suddenly (often when another moral panic takes its place)

This theory was taken directly from Goode and Ben-Yehuda’s book MORAL PANICS: Culture, Politics and Social Construction (1). The sheer accuracy of the theory proves that the circle of life really does exist – thank you Disney. 

This past century has seen vast periods of moral panic spread surrounding the release of films deemed unsuitable or even dangerous for young audiences. You’ll soon find that many of these periods measure up with Goode and Ben-Yehuda’s theory, but as I’ve already stated: there’s levels to it.

In his 1998 book – Censoring Hollywood: Youth, Moral Panic and Crime/Gangster Movies of the 1930s, John Springhall surmises that “whatever amuses the young for a price but does not appear to elevate public taste will invite middle-class criticism” (2). As cliche as this sentiment sounds, it will prove to ring true, and even justified in parts (but hopefully it’s mostly irrational).

If we were to go all the way back to the beginning, then I guess I’ll start with the rise of the gangster genre. 

Believe it or not, there was a period of history in which the edgy kids in town only had middle-aged white men in suits and fedoras to identify with (desperate times). For the sake of taking this topic seriously, here is where I’ll implement more of Springhall’s opinion on the topic, for he claims in his book that “the film industry’s love affair with members of criminal gangs was only natural, they were colourful, violent, and charismatic men and women, whose law-breaking activities were followed by millions of law-abiding Americans” (2). Of course, the older generation took a dislike to this “love affair”. Films such as Underworld(1927) were accused of romanticising the gangster characters by presenting them as the “logical hero(es)”, “a rags-to-riches success story fuelled by the dreams of audiences across the country” (3). Springhall notes that “many respectable citizens believed that (these) films led to an increase in juvenile delinquency”, so they “accused Hollywood of delivering impressionable youth into a career of crime” (2).

Now, was this justified, or was this irrational? It’s probably complicated.

Ultimately, Hollywood took the ‘justified’ route at the time by essentially hiring a janitor in the form of a notable conservative called William Harrison Hays. He assisted in monitoring new releases and promoting ‘Christian values’. His code was put in place to prevent murder from being presented in a way that “will inspire imitation” (2). Of course, this code didn’t work for long, but was there truly any need for it?

Believe it or not, there was evidence to suggest justification, whether any of it was tangible or not is a whole other question. One interesting piece would include the arrest of 17-year-old Joseph Wilkinson for armed robbery. The judge was allegedly convinced that this act was inspired by crimes depicted on film. Wilkinson apparently claimed otherwise – he claimed that a film like Little Caesar (1931 Al Capone-inspired crime film) “would make him want to stopbefore he was gunned down like Edward G. Robinson’s character”. He instead blamed his actions on his parentage (2).

So in the end, it wasn’t so tangible after all. In fact, signs point to this arrest representing both sides of the argument. It feeds into the idea that the parentsare actually the ones to blame rather than the ‘edgy’ films their kids like. I guess that takes away the complication?

Like most moral panics, this one fizzled down over time. Protests came and went (the usual stuff), with parents believing that cinema was to blame for their monstrous children dying away by the end of the 1930s (Richards, The Age 69). In other words, it ceased to be “the dominant narrative in media and social discussion” (1). The interwar period finally regained its status as the interwar period. Gangster and mafia films continue to thrive in our current era thanks to impeccable work by filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese. However, old peoples’ need for us to ‘think of the children’ is a collective one that has and will probably never die down. This need has come in all shapes and sizes, providing an endless supply of material for me to write about. With that being said, I’m jumping to the 1990s next (because I’ve decided that five weeks isn’t enough time for me).

Academic Readings & Bibliography

(1) Goode, E. Ben-Yehuda, N. (1994). MORAL PANICS: Culture, Politics, and Social Construction, State University of New York, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

(2) Springhall, J (1998) Censoring Hollywood: Youth, moral panic and crime/gangster movies of the 1930s, Journal of Popular Culture; Oxford Vol. 32, Iss. 3

(3) Film Reference, http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Gangster-Films-FROM-NOBLE-SAVAGE-TO-SOCIAL-PROBLEM.html

Dinh, V. 2020. The Legacy of Martin Scorsese: From Raging Bull to The Wolf of Wall Street https://www.nyucommclub.com/content/2020/12/19/the-legacy-of-martin-scorsese-from-raging-bull-to-the-wolf-of-wall-street, commonclub, 19 Dec