"All Catholics should boycott the film 'Diego Rose.' The Hollywood film industry needs to reflect on the number of films they've made that slander the Catholic Church..."
On the computer screen, a young man wearing a red baseball cap was ranting. Combined with the earlier news segment featuring Archbishop Marcos Costello of the Southern California Diocese, Directors Guild President Michael Apted frowned deeply. When did Hollywood filmmakers and directors become subject to the dictates of these people?
"Michael..."
Bill Rosith, sitting beside him, suddenly spoke up, "Freedom of sourcing material is a fundamental right of directors in Hollywood."
"I know." Michael Apted was clearly deep in thought.
Bill Rosith smiled and added, "This time it's the Catholic Church interfering. Next time, it could be another organization."
There were numerous organizations that protested against Hollywood films, such as children's associations, the National PTA, and various environmental and animal protection groups. However, they typically didn't protest the films themselves.
Although Michael Apted was getting older, his eyes remained sharp. Religious and social-political issues were always hot topics in Hollywood. If the guild merely observed as the Catholic Church interfered, who knew what other entities might follow suit next time? Directors wouldn't be able to work on films anymore, constantly dealing with such interference.
If this and that can't be filmed, how can directors work normally?
Seeing Michael Apted in deep thought, Bill Rosith said no more. Archbishop Marcos Costello's statements had already entered the television broadcast, sparking media attention. Related topics could be seen everywhere, both in the media and online.
The person who attacked Murphy reappeared, adding fuel to the fire and making "Diego Rose" even more prominent.
To say their actions and plans had achieved the desired effect would be an understatement.
As for Hollywood's major guilds, they had already voiced their support for Hollywood's freedom to film. Bill Rosith could fully anticipate Michael Apted's response. After all, this was Hollywood, a place brimming with liberalism, not the traditionally Catholic-strong northeastern United States.
Michael Apted sat in his chair, briefly silent. The Catholic Church had meddled in Hollywood before. When "The Da Vinci Code" was released, Ron Howard and Dan Brown faced harsh criticism from the Catholic Church, but they chose silence, and the matter eventually blew over.
But then, John Patrick Shanley was blacklisted by the Catholic Church due to his film "Doubt," and was lambasted by Catholic-leaning media.
Subsequent films like "Angels & Demons" also faced Catholic criticism, which had become an ongoing annoyance.
Having endured such criticisms repeatedly, Michael Apted's eyes grew even sharper. This wasn't the 1930s, 40s, or 50s anymore. Hollywood was now a place of creative freedom. The Catholic Church had no right to oppress it.
Indeed, the Catholic Church had imposed moral censorship on Hollywood in the past, but that only brought about stifling restrictions. Breaking free from these restrictions over the past forty years had led Hollywood to flourish and dominate the global film market.
What did they want now? To impose moral censorship on Hollywood again? To make Hollywood films regress?
Michael Apted suddenly stood up. This escalating situation couldn't be ignored. The Directors Guild couldn't allow other forces to arbitrarily interfere with the work of Hollywood directors.
Pacing back and forth, he said, "Bill, I'll propose to the board that Murphy Stanton be reinstated as a member of the Directors Guild. Have him submit an application, and we'll proceed once he's a member again."
"Understood!" Bill Rosith also stood up, "Murphy has longed to return to the Directors Guild."
It was clear that Michael Apted was expressing his support for Murphy.
"Let's keep in touch." Bill Rosith timely excused himself, "Goodbye, Michael."
Michael Apted nodded, "Goodbye."
After seeing Bill Rosith off, Michael Apted picked up the phone and made more than a dozen calls to other Directors Guild board members to discuss the matter.
Whether the film scenes involving the Catholic Church were factual was irrelevant to Michael Apted and the other board members. In their minds, Hollywood had the freedom to choose its themes and content. If outsiders were dissatisfied, they could resolve it through legal channels, but arbitrary interference was an infringement on their freedom.
Upon receiving Bill Rosith's call, Murphy immediately prepared the necessary materials and personally delivered them to the Directors Guild. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would be a member of the Directors Guild again by the time the Oscar nominations were announced.
Spokespersons for the Directors Guild, Writers Guild, Producers Guild, and other unions all sided with Murphy when asked by the media about the controversies involving the Catholic Church and "Diego Rose."
Throughout Hollywood, except for a few devout Catholics who emphasized extreme caution when dealing with religious themes, most people expressed varying degrees of support for "Diego Rose."
In this increasingly liberal industry, external forces challenging the cherished value of freedom almost always triggered a backlash.
Despite Hollywood's historical ties with the Catholic Church, times had changed drastically.
Murphy knew this well, which is why he dared to execute such a plan.
In 1929, five Catholic figures, including devout publisher Martin Quigley and Jesuit priest Daniel Lord, drafted a self-regulatory production code to morally constrain filmmaking. In 1930, Hollywood's major studios adopted the draft, and the Hays Office was established to enforce it. This document became the "Production Code," which governed Hollywood for nearly thirty years.
For Hollywood at that time, the "Hays Code" was a self-regulation method to appease various religious protests and avoid police or government intervention in the film industry.
The code viewed films as "popular entertainment" but with a "special moral responsibility" because of their unique ability to transcend racial, class, social, or political barriers, thus appealing to everyone.
Due to this unique characteristic, filmmakers couldn't enjoy the same freedom of expression as playwrights, novelists, or newspaper editors. Films became 20th-century morality plays, instructing the public on proper conduct.
In the summer of 1933, the Archbishop of Philadelphia declared that films shown in his diocese violated Catholic moral standards and called for a full boycott. That same year, Chicago's Catholic community joined the outcry, with 500,000 Catholic women launching a "holy war" against Hollywood.
In 1934, the National Legion of Decency was founded to review Hollywood films' moral content, sending lists of films that should be banned or re-reviewed to the Hays Office. They labeled films that violated Catholic moral standards with "Condemned," urging millions of Catholics to boycott them and even placing pickets outside theaters.
To ensure Catholics adhered to church directives, Cincinnati Archbishop John McNicholas drafted an oath for the Legion of Decency.
From then on, Catholics nationwide had to take this oath during Mass, led by their priests, acknowledging that films posed "a serious threat to youth, family life, the nation, and religion," promising God not to watch films deemed "evil and unhealthy" by the church.
Besides verbal oaths, many Catholic churches required formal written guarantees. In a few weeks, over a million people in Chicago and Boston alone had taken an anti-film oath.
This period marked the height of Catholic interference in Hollywood, lasting until the late 1940s and early 1950s.
By the late 1940s, the Catholic Church's influence on Hollywood faced severe challenges. The devastation of World War II made the "comforting world" portrayed by Catholic moral standards increasingly unacceptable to American and international audiences.
Starting in the early 1950s, the Catholic Church's enormous influence on Hollywood began to wane. Changing social attitudes, especially the disruptive impact of World War II on traditional values, severely weakened the church's societal influence, making the moral strictures of production codes seem ridiculous.
By the 60s and 70s, with the rise of countercultural movements like the hippies, the Catholic Church's influence on Hollywood had dwindled to insignificance. By the new century, Hollywood had no tolerance for Catholic interference.
For instance, Murphy personally experienced that "The Da Vinci Code," based on Dan Brown's novel, was filled with content involving the Catholic Church, much of it subverting the church's foundational theories. Despite facing significant Catholic opposition, the film not only survived but became one of the highest-grossing films of the year.
It wasn't just Hollywood that changed; American audiences, including some Catholics, had also changed.
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