Sex, Crime, Gender: Hollywood and the Rise of Censorship

A little about us: Wisdom Bar is a social lecture series hosted in cool bars and creative spaces throughout New York City. Each event features a presentation from an expert speaker whose passion for a unique topic guides the room. We'll explore new ideas, exchange perspectives, and learn something new along the way, all in an effort to get curious-minded people together for drinks and thoughtful conversation. If this sounds like something you might enjoy, we'd love to host you. Here's what you need to know! We will begin with a short introduction and a film screening of the 1933 film Design for Living. After the screening, Matt Johnson will walk us through how the film is an insight into censorship. Most people think of film history as a straight line — movies started out conservative and gradually pushed toward the sex and violence of today's blockbusters. That's not what happened. Early Hollywood talkies were surprisingly bold. Frank depictions of sexuality, violence, and gender norms played out on screen at a moment of real cultural upheaval in America. It was freewheeling, daring, and genuinely revolutionary — until religious authorities, alarmed by what they called "filth" in America's mass media, began pushing back. Hard. The result was a self-imposed Hollywood Code that would reshape what American audiences were allowed to see for decades. Sound familiar? America is currently in the middle of a strikingly similar cultural battle — book bans, library defunding, and political pressure on broadcasters are reshaping what people can access right now. Film historian Matt Johnson traces the arc from Pre-Code Hollywood to the rise of censorship — and makes the case that attempts to silence artistic output almost always produce something more subversive and more clever in return. Matt Johnson teaches film theory and history at Franklin and Marshall College, where he is also a Fellow coordinating work in refugee resettlement and the question of welcome. He brings the same intellectual rigor and genuine curiosity to the history of Hollywood that he does to the most pressing questions of our time. We'll explore: * The surprisingly bold and daring films that existed before Hollywood self-censorship — and why they matter * How religious, political, and cultural forces converged to impose the Hollywood Code * Ernst Lubitsch and the "Lubitsch Touch" — how European filmmaking influenced and challenged Hollywood norms * Why America has been here before — and what the history of censorship tells us about the cultural battles happening right now * How artists have historically defeated censorship — and what that looks like today