Free Essay: Analysis of Baby Face (1933)

The 'Babyface' is a film released in 1933 in Hollywood before the Hays code was created in 1929. The reason why it was released is that the way of the teeth began being enforced and so the movie assisted to push for the code due to the power of censorship. The outrage of the film represented the pinnacle of the offences discovered in cinemas during the commitment of the pre-code films that had self-appointed and conservative morality in police arms (Johanson n.p). The film is all about sex and how women from the past to today use sex as their power to get ahead of the world.

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One aspect realised in the movie is that it portrays problems faced by women in a world ruled by men. The film is also sneering because the trailer set the female protagonist as an alluring villain and how she tales' men to be near her. It's impossible to imagine that the era the author is speaking about is where we were born especially because many people had the belief that women had equal rights to political rights when the constitutions were amendment thus granting them the rights to vote 14 years ago (Johanson n.p). But in 1920, the flappers pushed the social boundaries in all kinds such as behaviour and attitude. This made women to wear makeup, corsets and started drinking alcohol which was not allowed during the days. They even expressed interest in sex, unlike the ordinary ladies.

Baby Face and the U.S history

In the early '30s, studios had eras due to the righteous reforms that took place in America. Violent and suggestive scenes were very abundant in Hollywood movies which took place between the years 1922 to 1934 because of the pre-code years (Johanson n.p). This is because the industry had a lot of freedom to play with the audience appetite for tempestuous and provocative for more than ten years. Moreover, they also created a platform that presented the commentary of the American Society through movies regarding prejudice on gender, class and race. Before, the code women were known to have the will of their own and sizzling sexuality without getting punishment

When the new technology emerged, it facilitated the behaviours by capturing the voices of nuances people due to the eruption of religious fervour that was dominated by the U.S Christian societies. In the early '30s, most producers also rejected the fact that American citizens needed to be guided and sheltered by the film to ensure that the American citizens are saved from the celluloid muck merchants (Johanson n.p). Due to this, the Catholic Legion bore morally compensating values after seeing the film Babyface and how it imposed that their scenes and lines needed to be edited.

Cocaine and women were presented in the new film to celebrate how liberated and fierce they were in the Pre-Code cinema. For instance, between 1930 to 1934, before the censorship known as the Hay Code was introduced, women had depicted roles with sex positivity and frankness which is rarely seen today (Johanson n.p). The same women also pushed for gender boundaries to pursue their economic excitement and freedom thus defying the Victorian ideals of religion, sexual purity and domesticity. Later, Hollywood began and started representing women on screens, and that is why Baby Face was known to be the only film that offended the censors.

Works Cited

Johanson, MaryAnn. "Classic Film through a Feminist Lens: Baby Face (1933)." FlickFilosopher.com, 2 Dec. 2018, www.flickfilosopher.com/2016/08/classic-film-feminist-lens-baby-face-1933.html.