Editing Hays Code (section)

===Abandonment===
In 1963, MPAA president [[Eric Johnston]], who had previously "liberalized" the Code, died. The next three years were marked by a power struggle between two factions, which led to an erratic application of the Code. Finally, the "liberal" faction prevailed by 1966, installing [[Jack Valenti]] as the Association's new head. The chaos of the interim period had rendered enforcement impossible and Valenti, an opponent of the Production Code, began working on a rating system under which film restrictions would lessen, an idea that had been considered as early as 1960 in response to the success of the non-approved ''Some Like It Hot'' and ''Anatomy of a Murder''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

In 1966, [[Warner Bros.]] released ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'', the first film to feature the "Suggested for Mature Audiences" (SMA) label. As the PCA board was divided about censoring the film's explicit language, Valenti negotiated a compromise: the word "screw" was removed, but other language remained, including the phrase "hump the hostess". The film received Production Code approval despite the previously prohibited language.<ref name="LeffSimmons90" />

That same year, the British-produced, American-financed film ''[[Blowup]]'' was denied Production Code approval for its various instances of nudity, foreplay and intercourse. [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] released it anyway, under a specially-created pseudonym, Premier Productions. This was the first instance of an MPAA member company directly producing a film without an approval certificate. Also, the original, lengthy code was replaced by a list of eleven points outlining that the boundaries of the new code would be current community standards and good taste. Any film containing content deemed suitable for older audiences would feature the SMA label in its advertising. With the creation of this new label, the MPAA unofficially began classifying films.<ref name="LeffSimmons90">Leff & Simmons (2001), pp. 270–271; 286–287.</ref>

The [[Motion Picture Association film rating system|MPAA film rating system]] went into effect on November 1, 1968, with the four rating symbols: "G" meaning suggested for general exhibition (persons of all ages admitted), "M" meaning suggested for mature audiences, "R" meaning suggested as restricted (persons under 16 not admitted unless accompanied by a parent or adult guardian), and "X" meaning persons under 16 would not be admitted. By the end of 1968, Geoffrey Shurlock stepped down from his post, and the PCA effectively dissolved, being replaced by the Code and Rating Administration (CARA), headed by Eugene Dougherty. The CARA would replace "Code" with "Classification" in 1978.<ref name="LeffSimmons90" /><ref>Doherty (2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=mBAiYzRx5LQC&pg=PA334 p. 334].</ref>

In 1969, the Swedish film ''[[I Am Curious (Yellow)]]'', directed by [[Vilgot Sjöman]], was initially banned in the U.S. for its frank depiction of sexuality; however, this was overturned by the Supreme Court. In 1970, because of confusion over the meaning of "mature audiences", the M rating was changed to "GP" meaning "for general exhibition, but parental guidance is suggested", then in 1972 to the current "PG", for "parental guidance suggested". In 1984, in response to public complaints regarding the severity of horror elements in PG-rated titles such as ''[[Gremlins]]'' and ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]'', the "PG-13" rating was created as a middle tier between PG and R. In 1990, the X rating was replaced by "NC-17" (under 17 not admitted) because of the former's stigma, being associated with [[pornography]]; as the X rating was not trademarked by the MPAA (which expected producers would prefer to self-rate such product), it was soon appropriated by adult bookstores and theaters, which marketed their products as being rated X, XX and XXX.<ref>Fox, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-27-mn-1406-story.html "X Film&nbsp;..."], latimes.com, September 27, 1990; accessed May 28, 2017.</ref>

As the [[American Humane Association]] depended on the Hays Office for the right to monitor the [[Set (film and TV scenery)|set]]s used for production, the closure of the Hays Office in 1966 also corresponded with an increase in animal cruelty on sets. The association did not regain its access until 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Arnold|first=Jeremy|date=May 6, 2012|title=Jesse James (1939)|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/18071/jesse-james|access-date=August 25, 2021|website=Turner Classic Movies|language=en}}</ref>