CAMS Major Theresa Heitz ’16 Publishes in Film Matters

13 May 2016

Theresa Heitz

CAMS major Theresa Heitz’s essay on “The Production Code Administration and Sexual Spaces in East of Eden” was published in the Winter 2015 issue of Film Matters, as the cover story. Theresa developed the essay from one of her course assignment papers in CAMS 212 Film History II, taught by Professor Carol Donelan. In the essay, Theresa explores the lesser known history behind the production of Elia Kazan’s East of Eden (Warner Brothers, 1955), and the protracted negotiation between Kazan and the Production Code Administration regarding the representation of brothels and prostitutes in the film. Social norms were shifting in the wake of the second World War, and the Production Code Administration struggled to maintain its legitimacy and position of authority over directors and the content of their films. The push and pull between Kazan and the Production Code Administration regarding the representation of brothels and prostitutes is discussed in relation to postwar American culture’s shift in values regarding sexuality.

Film Matters 

 

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