THE MOVIE RATING SYSTEM:
CENSORSHIP OR CONSUMER PROTECTION?:
FROM THE MOON IS BLUE TO KNOCKED UP

Larry Strickler

DESCRIPTION: How did the movie ratings system come to be and who decides who should or should not see films? “The Rise of the Movie Rating System: Censorship or Consumer Protection?” focuses on the dismantling of the censorship group called the “Hays Code” and its replacement by the current movie rating system. Supreme Court decisions, new media technology, the influence of European film and culture, and changing American moral standards dismantled the censorship code. Through the use of videos, photos and commentary, Larry Strickler explains how provocative photos of well-endowed Jane Russell, the racy language of The Moon is Blue, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and the violence in Bonnie and Clyde marked the beginning of the end of the outdated Hays Censorship Code. The objective of this lecture is for the audience to understand, through a provocative and informative talk, how the use of G, PG, PG13, R and NC17 came to be. This lecture also explores the current controversy over the effectiveness of the rating system.


BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Larry Strickler is an educator, entertainer and lecturer. As a child, Larry performed on the Milton Berle Texaco Star Theatre, The Jackie Gleason Show and the Uncle Don Radio show. As an entertainer, Larry is a band singer and MC as well as an activities director and performer in New York State’s Catskill resort area. He is currently at Kutsher’s Country Club completing his 25th year at the hotel. As an educator, Larry taught history and theatre and rose to Assistant Principal at a prestigious New York City public high school. He is currently an administrator and outreach lecturer at Baruch College (CUNY) in Manhattan. As a lecturer, Larry has programs on the Catskills Resort area and a series on movie censorship. Larry lives in Brooklyn and Boynton Beach with his wife, Shelly Strickler, an award- winning New York City radio broadcast journalist.