In May 1995, Senator Robert Dole of Kansas created national headlines for a speech in which he assailed the Hollywood film industry for producing gruesomely violent scenes and other “nightmares of depravity.” In some respects, his attack was nothing new; rather, it was a continuation of a long tradition of public debate over the violent (and sexual) content of motion pictures—a debate with both moral and aesthetic overtones.

This debate goes back as far as the 1920s and 1930s, when growing numbers of Americans expressed concern about the violent, risqué, and lawless behavior displayed in motion pictures. To forestall possible government regulation, the film industry established the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA), appointed former postmaster general Will H. Hays as the association’s head, and enacted a production code. Strengthened in 1934, the MPPDA...