Abstract
Maras introduces the collection by arguing that historically speaking, issues of ethics and screenwriting have been handled primarily through a discussion of the morality of film under the Hays Office production code in the USA during the 1930s and 1940s. This approach limits discussion of ethics to a coded form of morality. Through careful analysis of the production code and its ethical discourse, Maras makes a case for the need for new perspectives exploring ethics in screenwriting. The chapter argues for a greater focus on screenwriting as a practice that engages with ethics on a number of different levels. It also recommends a more considered understanding of ethics as multifaceted and multidimensional.
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- 1.
Hays attributes this to a new generation of Broadway writers who went to Hollywood and who did not always follow the Hays formula (1955, 436).
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- 3.
Of the 17 member ‘Production Committee’ that hear appeals under the Production Code between 1930 and 1934—also known as the ‘Hollywood jury’ (Hays 1955, 452)—there are no well-known screenwriters, and only three members have minor writing credits, with the exception of John A. Waldron (who also worked as a production manager) with substantial writing credits (see Leff and Simmons 2001, 291).
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See note 4.
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- 7.
The Johnston Office refers to the Hays Office. Eric Johnston succeeded Will Hays and served 1945–1961. Geoffrey Shurlock was Breen’s successor (1954–1968).
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For a discussion of the ethics of fiction see the analysis of Booth’s work in the concluding chapter.
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One way to think about Beker’s work is in terms of the issues of representational space and moral stakes discussed earlier, since a big part of her work looks at who gets a ‘black hat’ and who gets a ‘white hat’, as well as depictions of good and evil, creating villains and heroes.
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A number of factors contribute to the complicated autonomy of the screenwriter, especially in television. Production conditions are seeing the rise of the series producer/director. John Caldwell suggests that the ‘written template is no longer sufficient to guarantee stylistic integrity throughout a series’ (2008, 17). While a ‘story bible’ may introduce a level of control, it can also diminish the standing of writers to ‘assemblers’ (2008, 213). Authorship in TV in general is undermined by a conception of TV as a ‘space trying to be filled’ (Caldwell 2008, 202), for which storylines are perpetually churned (2008, 208).
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Maras, S. (2016). Ethics Beyond the Code. In: Maras, S. (eds) Ethics in Screenwriting. Palgrave Studies in Screenwriting. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54493-3_1
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