Sanitizing Cinema: Public Health and the Regulation of American Moving Pictures, 1896-1920
Date of Award
Spring 2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Film and Media Studies
First Advisor
Casetti, Francesco
Abstract
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, our relationship to media changed suddenly and dramatically. Movie theaters closed, film and television production suddenly came to a halt, and internet-connected devices became lifelines to the outside world as we worked, studied, shopped, and socialized from our smartphones and computers. We came to rely on entertainment media to fill our time and connect us with others. Today, as the pandemic recedes into the background of our daily lives, we can see the dramatic effects the health crisis has had on media. Films that once premiered in theaters now appear first on streaming services, which proliferated during the height of the pandemic. Only big-budget action films seem to succeed at the box office. Many movie theaters across the country have closed permanently. Those that remain open have had to implement new business practices and pricing models to stay afloat. While the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry may seem unprecedented, Sanitizing Cinema: Public Health and the Regulation of American Motion Pictures, 1896-1920 reveals that public health concerns—and the official measures they engendered—have been central to the development of cinema since its inception. This dissertation examines the effects of public health regulation on the trajectory of motion pictures in the United States during the first quarter-century of their existence. Drawing on extensive primary research, I detail the paradoxical position of cinema in relation to public health initiatives. On the one hand, the spaces in which films were shown often drew scrutiny from health authorities because of their poor sanitation and lack of ventilation. On the other hand, films were thought to communicate in a “universal language” of images and were thus considered ideal vehicles through which to educate a diverse audience about health topics. Retracing a series of health crises including endemic tuberculosis, high infant mortality levels, the poliomyelitis (polio) epidemic of 1916, and the “Spanish” influenza pandemic of 1918-1920, I show that these two conceptions of cinema—as a health threat and a health educational medium—came up against one another repeatedly in the years that cinema’s definition and social function were forged in the United States. Health fears prompted official regulation of theaters. In response to these measures, the film industry wholeheartedly embraced popular health campaigns and worked to demonstrate that cinema was a “useful” medium during moments of crisis. I argue that this complex interplay of regulation and response played a significant role in establishing the definition of cinema that would become dominant during the classical Hollywood period.
Recommended Citation
Jacobs, Carolyn Louise, "Sanitizing Cinema: Public Health and the Regulation of American Moving Pictures, 1896-1920" (2023). Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations. 1049.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/gsas_dissertations/1049
