"Spanning the twentieth century, Hollywood v. Hard Core weaves a tale of censorship and regulation. Since the industry's infancy, film producers and distributors have publicly regarded ratings codes as a necessary evil. Hollywood regulates itself, we have been told time and again, in order to prevent the government from doing it for them. But Lewis argues that the studios self-regulate because they are convinced that self-regulation is good for business, and that censorship codes and regulations are a crucial part of what binds the various competing agencies in the film business together. When it all works as it should, everyone who plays by the rules makes money."--BOOK JACKET.