Full Sail Library celebrates the freedom to read, create, view and listen to materials of our choosing without restriction or prohibition. We provide broad access to film and games because they are a means for the communication of ideas and represent a diversity of views. Throughout the collection you'll find numerous films that have been challenged, banned and censored due to the content and viewpoints presented. How many have you seen?
Film History: A Civil War spectacular. From IMDB: Making headlines from the day it opened in 1915, "The Birth of a Nation" became the most successful silent film ever made, grossing over $10 million in its first run. Director D.W. Griffith's audacious and bravura achievement turned a lurid, negrophobic play called "The Clansman" into a three-hour epic that traces the Civil War, the assassination of Lincoln and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan through the lives of two families. Denounced even at the time for its racism, the film's sweep and scope set a standard for film spectacle and absorbing historical melodrama, and it remains America's most controversial cinematic landmark. Call number: DVD DRA BIR NAT
From IMDB: The head of a gang of toughs is conditioned to become physically ill at sex and violence during a prison sentence. When he is released, he's beaten by all of his old adversaries. Call Number: DVD SCIFI FAN CLO ORA
A film by Bernardo Bertolucci. Chronicle of 20th century Italy focusing on two contrasting families whose lives affect, and are affected by, the rise of fascism and socialism.
Boris Karloff is the screen's most memorable creature in the story of Dr. Frankenstein, who tampers with life and death when he pieces together salvaged body parts to create a human monster. Originally banned in Kansas for "cruelty," the film was originally released with cuts: a close up shot of a hypodermic needle injection, and the scene in which Maria is carried in her father's arms. Call Number: DVD HORROR FRA
From IMDB: Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring is a harrowing tale of faith, revenge, and savagery in medieval Sweden. Starring frequent Bergman collaborator and screen icon Max von Sydow, the film is beautiful and cruel in its depiction of a world teetering between paganism and Christianity, and of one father's need to avenge the death of a child. Banned in Fort Worth, TX, 1962 by the board of censors who found a rape scene objectionable. Call Number: DVD FOREIGN VIR
From IMDB: A burned-out professor and his volatile yet seductive wife battle it out in front of, and eventually with, their unsuspecting, mild-mannered guests. From Turner Classic Movies: The Catholic Church's censorship group had passed the film with a rating of "Morally unobjectionable for adults, with reservations." Yet at first, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was denied a Production Code Seal of Approval. Warner stood behind the film, saying "The play was undoubtedly a play for adults and we have gone ahead to make Virginia Woolf a film for adults. I don't believe a controversial, mature subject should be watered down so that it is palatable for children. When that is done, you get a picture which is not palatable for children or for anyone else." He then announced that all contracts with theaters would include a clause prohibiting anyone under 18 from seeing the film unless accompanied by an adult. It was the first time Warners had ever released a film for adults only. The film got the Seal. Four months after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opened, the MPAA announced a less rigid Production Code." Call Number: DVD DRAMA WHO
Marlon Brando delivers a fascinating performance as a man torn apart by his wife's suicide who attempts to bury his grief in a sudden, purely carnal relationship with an alluring stranger (Maria Schneider). Banned in Montgomery, Alabama and Shreveport, Louisiana, 1973. Found obscene by a district court, the ruling was later reversed by the State Supreme Court.
From IMDB: "Woodstock," the concert, gave voice to the spirit of a generation, offering the world a three-day microcosm of the turbulent '60s, set to the music of the era's greatest rock performers. Banned for persons under 18 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, 1970. Reversed by a federal district court. Call Number: DVD LIVE PERF WOO 3DA
From IMDB: The carpenter Jesus of Nazareth, tormented by the temptations of demons, the guilt of making crosses for the Romans, pity for men and the world, and the constant call of God, sets out to find what God wills for him. But as his mission nears fulfillment, he must face the greatest temptation: the normal life of a good man. From Alternative Reel: "Numerous religious leaders throughout the United States organized protests against The Last Temptation of Christ (many of whom didn't bother to make an effort to watch the film!) and several Southern cities, such as Savannah, Georgia, banned the film. In addition, Blockbuster Video initially refused to carry the title in its stores." Call Number: DVD DRA LAS TEM CHR
The following films illustrate the impact of censorship on individual and society. You'll find them in the Full Sail Library collection as DVDs and several are included in the streaming services.
