Censorship In Film In The Catcher In The Rye

Censorship in Film

In 1907, Chicago enacted the first film censorship law. Two years later, the National board of Censorship was created due to the amount of complaints about indecent movies in New York City. This caused multiple theaters in the NYC Area to close down. By the 1920’s, most American protestant cities were being called for federal regulation. The year is now 2016 and censorship still plays an important role in the film industry and also our society.

Censorship in film started because mainly people believed that most movies shown were indecent or inappropriate. The box offices were being significantly damaged by the lack of customers that paid to see films. So in 1909, the New York Board of Motion Picture Censorship was formed.
The Catcher in the Rye is a book set in the 1950’s. The time period was a highly racist time which effected the book greatly. The main protagonist is Holden Caulfield who is also the narrator of the novel. Ackley, Stradlater, and Jane Gallagher are a few of Holden’s peers. The trio and the rest of his family & peers affect him deeply. Some people believed that Holden was “his own worst enemy’.

The novel is basically about young Holden and his psychological problems. He is stuck between the adult world versus rejecting it. So Holden attempts to connect with his peers on a whole different level. He experiences an encounter that deems him unable to handle a sexual encounter. Finally, it is revealed to Holden that he should just remain a child for as long as possible and not to rush himself into adulthood.

This book was banned due to racial tensions and so called “inappropriate content”. In 1960, school administrators fired an Ohio teacher for assigning the novel to an 11th grade student. The administration claimed the book was anti-white and more predominant white communities fought to have it banned completely. A library banned the novel for a so called violation of codes. The library claimed it had excessive sex scenes, violence ,and extreme foul
When the novel debuted, America was still having ongoing racial issues especially in the southern region. So of course there would be some sort of problem created. As for the language and content, the novel was meant for an older crowd. So I cannot see what the actual problem is because most teens now are doing what they were doing in the book.

The Catcher in the Rye is a good book in my opinion. It relates to the teenagers of today, including myself. It focuses on peer pressure and finding yourself in a clique/group. The point of the novel was for the main character (Holden) to choose his fate. At the end, he makes the best decision. Which in my opinion makes it so appealing to people my age.

I believe censorship is acceptable because it’s very much needed in today’s society. Not all movies or music are meant for a younger age group. There are specific genres and ratings for children because most adults believe they should be “shielded” from the topics discussed or depicted. The NC-17 rating is perfect for those people who enjoy seeing brains ripped out of a person’s head. Also censorship is acceptable because there is larger variety of movies for parents to see while their child watches a PG