The popular saying is that sex sells, but there once existed a time when the very thought of sex could ruin ones career, especially in a high profile career such as the entertainment industry. In the early days of cinema, sex was a controversial topic for many people. However, it was showcased in many films, advertisements, and in the theater. It became a popular subject of aforementioned arts. Once particular “sex symbol” that was brought to stardom, then tragically fell from grade for the same reason, is the early 1930s actress Mae West. Miss West quickly became a household name for her sexual attitudes toward men, believing that women desire sex as much as men, her enticing tone, and her infamous double entendres. Unfortunately, even though these attributes are what launched her career, it was for these reasons alone that her fame quickly dwindled out after the Production Code was established and started heavily censoring films.
From an early age, Mae learned how to live a life of luxury and grew to love and demand the spotlight. Mae talks much more extensively about this in her autobiography “Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It,” when she says “My mother and I always had a carriage available, and in the winder ad eep fur-lined sleigh. I came to the luxury of comfort and fur early” (West 4). Since a little child, Mae became comfortable being the center of attention and never let her nerves scare her off the stage. She became a power house and knew exactly what she wanted, when she wanted it, and how to get it. The energy she exuded from an early age would only intensify as she got older and her fame grew. “I stepped out on the stage, looked up angrily at the spotlight and in the balcony, stamping my foot. ‘Where is MY spotlight!” I stamped again and the spotlight moved across the stage onto me and caught me in the act of demanding my light” (West 9).
This attitude would help Mae grow into a superstar in the film industry because she knew exactly how to get what she wanted and lived to be under the spotlight. Many of her films would create a legacy and help create a “movement” for the culture of the time. Many women tried to emulate her looks and persona, not only in everyday life, but in other movies as well. “My world-wide acceptance by the public was due to the personality I brought to every situation and every remark that elevated it to the cleverly risqué. Attempt by others to get the same effect resulted in the flatly dirty” (West 175). With other people trying to imitate the powerful and suggestive Miss West all over America, many of the religious and political activists were horrified with the over-indulgence of sex. It was appearing in everyday culture and movies, yet in a distasteful manner that was an insult to the particular time of that era. Women did not talk about or overtly participate in sexual activities, so to see women feely discussing and dressing in such a suggestive was was a shock.
For these reasons, Mae was frowned upon by those in charge of the Production Code and was asked to change and alter many of her films. Mae was essentially being asked to alter her personality and change herself for censorship and the sake of her films being made and distributed. “Undoubtedly, the clerical reformers had more to be disturbed about then the buxom Miss West, but the theory of cause and effect has much to commend it” (Garnder 139). Because of the imitators’ vulgarity, everyone was pointing fingers at Miss West as the sole reason why women were now sexual, however that is not what she believed she was doing. Mae West was being herself and doing the things she had done her entire life, and enjoyed the life she was living.
With all of the criticism and talk surrounding Miss West and her pictures, all she could do was laugh. She found the humor in what they were saying and took it as more of a joke than an insult. Many different types of people, from common citizens to people in political power to company executives, would write angry letters to the studios expressing their outrage at such vulgar scenes that Miss West appeared in. In the book “The Censorship Papers,” a couple examples of the letters that were written are published, including responses from Miss West and the studios. In one instance, it is quoted “It was unjust that Mae West should be so pilloried, by tainted publishers and puritanical censored for mocking the repressive attitudes toward sex that characterized the times. With her ample bosom and insinuating speech, she laughed at the hypocrisies of Hollywood morals” (Gardner 145). Studio executives would filter through these letters of outrage and take it out on many of the scripts where Miss West appeared.
Along with all of the criticism of Mae West’s sexual entendres and insinuating acts of sex, it was her songs that raised as much controversy. The censorship executives put a tight grip on the lyrics of many of her songs that would appear in the movies. “We have the lyric for ‘I Hear You Knocking’…and believe that three of the lines should be rewritten before the lyric would be acceptable” (Gardner 146-7). With the production code and censorship attempting to filter out all questionable acts, it seemed as though they were trying to alter the entire personality and persona that Mae West had worked hard to build. In a sense, they were trying to change her image and make her less risqué, when in fact, that was not the issue at hand.
Many of America would flock to the theaters to witness the next Mae West film and see what antics she would find herself in. She had become a great inspiration for many people throughout the country for many reasons. She was exuding the confidence that women were so eager to have and she was participating in acts that women secretly desired (especially since the most popular Mae West movies came shortly after the women’s revolution and the right to vote). Along with the women who desired her, many men grew to desire her just as much, if not more then the women, but for completely different reasons. However for these motion pictures, the streets would soon be filled with women dressing and acting like Miss West; only extremely more raunchy. Here lies the different between Miss West and the rest of the world. When Mae West would appear on camera and daunt around the set delivering sexual entendres and promiscuity, she would do so with an aura of sexiness and be so risqué that she would be set apart from the rest of the entertainment world. Upon these films being released and people trying to emulate her, they would not do it with the same poise and confidence that skyrocketed Mae West to stardom. The “everyday” Mae West’s would be extremely more raunchy, upsetting many religious and political extremists.
It was for these reasons that lead the production code to come down so sternly on Miss West, for doing the same things that she had done for essentially her entire life. Luckily, movies like “She Done Him Wrong” were able to escape the wrath of the production code as it was made before it was established. This film highlights the sexual antics of the typical Mae West film where she flocks after and courts several men throughout the film. However, it was films like this particular one, as well as “I’m No Angel” that would lead the production code to be made.
Mae West was a prominent female figure of early cinema. Catapulting to stardom shortly after the female revolution just a couple years before, many women wanted to be her, and many men wanted enjoyed looking at her. With her no-so-silent sexual desires, on and off stage, Mae West and her characters were always seeking the company of men. Many times, enjoying the company of several men at once. Mae West was confident in her performance and delivered characters with the same poise and personality as her own. She had built a reputation on these things and for that, she became well loved throughout America. However, numerous women tried to replicate the risqué attitudes and costumes made famous by Miss West, ultimately failing and looking and acting must more raunchy. Many people became outrages at the way people were now acting and the production code was established to censor films; in particular Mae West’s characters. The production code criticized every little move Mae made, even just the way she spoke the words on the page. With so much angst and shock over the control Mae got over her films, her career was being affected. She tried to laugh it off and continued to make films for several years after the code, however her characters did change their attitudes. “This campaign of vilification did not put an end to Mae West’s career. She continued undaunted, though her movies became more and more sanitized, and her film career continued until 1943” (Gardner 144). Mae West persevered and tried to not let the naysayers afftect her too much, however their tight grip on her movies would lead her straight out of Hollywood. When the spotlight on her career finally went black, all she could do was hope that someone would “come and and see [her] sometime.”
I quote Mae West’s autobiography “Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It,” published in 1959. Also quoted is “The Censorship Papers” by Gerald C. Gardner, published in 1987.
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