Lisle museum exhibit to explore film censorship in Chicago

LISLE A Lisle native, museum curator and 22-year-old college student has joined forces with his North Central College professor to create an exhibit exploring the history of Chicago film censorship.

Brian Failing, a senior at North Central, cowrote an upcoming exhibit at the Lisle Station Museum with associate professor of speech communication and coordinator for the college's urban and suburban studies program, Steve Macek, called, "Banned in Chicago: Eight Decades of Film Censorship in the Windy City."

The exhibit is the result of research the two conducted for a book Macek is working on. Failing was Macek's research assistant over the course of two summers.

"He was very excited about the research we were doing on the history of film censorship in Chicago," Macek said. "He thought it would make a compelling exhibit."

Failing has worked at the museum since he was 15 years old, and took over as curator his senior year of high school.

"I thought (film censorship) was a topic that's really important and really interesting that I think a lot of people will like, because everyone likes stuff that has to do with films, movies and Hollywood," Failing said.

In 1907, Chicago became the first city in the country to create a local film censorship authority, Macek said. The city also had the longest-lasting such authority in the country it was dissolved in 1984 after funding for the agency stopped.

"When it was first created, the police chief the head of Chicago police was responsible for reviewing and licensing films," Macek said. "Any films that were amoral or obscene could be banned."

About a decade after the agency was created, Macek said the authority was delegated to a civilian board, which was usually chaired by a police officer. The other members of the board were often women.

"The thinking was that women had a stronger moral sense than men and were better able to determine what was suitable," Macek said.

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Lisle museum exhibit to explore film censorship in Chicago