Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media

by Stephen Vaughn

Richard Vaughn's account of the development of the American movie rating system situates contemporary cinema within the turbulent context of the history of censorship, America's cultural wars, and the impact of new technologies that have transformed entertainment. Based on the private papers and oral history of Richard D. Heffner, who headed MPAA's Classification and Rating Administration for two decades, from 1974 to 1994, it chronicles the often tense working relationship between Heffner and Jack Valenti, the long-standing currently 83 year old President and Chief Executive of the Motion Picture Association of America. It also documents the sometimes bruising encounters Heffner had with such Hollywood heavyweights as Clint Eastwood, Oliver Stone, Michael Douglas, George C. Scott, Lew Wasserman, Arthur Krim, Jerry Weintraub, and many others. Heffner's memoirs reveal the conflicted behind-the-scenes history of the American movie rating system from the perspective of a man once called "the least-known most powerful person in Hollywood". Stephen Vaughn has taught the history of communication at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, since 1981. His previous books include Ronald Reagan in Hollywood: Movies and Politics (1994), The Vital Past: Writings on the Uses of History (1985), and Holding Fast the Inner Lines: Democracy, Nationalism and the Committee on Public Information (1980). He is General Editor of a three-volume Encyclopedia of American Journalism, and has published a two-volume annotated bibliography in electronic format.

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 17, 2005

Reviews

[Martyn Lovell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Freedom and Entertainment is an academic history of the US movie ratings system, focusing primarily on the period after the production code.

The subject of the book is an interesting one, touching on changing social attitudes, the interaction of politics and big business, artistic freedom, and topics such as sex and violence. This allowed the book to promote an enjoyable discussion at our book club.

However, the book itself is flawed in a number of ways. First, there are few primary sources of information. The author is excited to have one insider to report on, and uses his information excessively. He doesn't track down any other major source to refute or back up the situation described.

The writing style is very, very dry, even for an academic book. There is little colour or spark here, and a complete lack of energy or narrative direction. The author also tries to stay away from drawing conclusions, preferring to mostly just report facts. This is a shame - given his deep knowledge I was expecting more conclusory, judgmental or directional material at the end of the book. Instead, we mostly just reach the end of the facts.

Overall, it would be hard to recommend this either for entertainment or education. Unless you have a deep need for data on movie ratings, this isn't the book for you.