What makes a film ”Morally Offensive”? It’s the question hosts Bill and Cisco ask on everyone episode of this podcast, as they comb through the list of films ”Condemned” or rated ”Morally Offensive” by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Film Office (formerly the Legion of Decency). The list has it’s origins at the dawn of sound, as Hollywood was reeling from a series of major scandals. The Legion’s goal was to force censorship onto Hollywood, but as a last resort, the movie moguls caved in to public pressure, and agreed to self-censor their product, with the help of Will Hays and the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA). Catholic Joseph Breen was brought in to enforce the code for the Hays Office, and to institute what would become known as the Hays Code (a list of problematic moral guidelines, created with the assistance of a Catholic priest). After the Hays Code was slowly chipped away at, Hollywood censorship effectively disappeared, and was replaced with the modern-day ratings system in the late 1960s. During this time, the ”Condemned” rating, now all but neutered by changes in public opinion, mores, and taste, morphed into the less influential ”Morally Offensive” rating. Join ex-Catholic hosts Bill and Cisco, as they attempt to watch every single film on this list, from pre-code musicals to modern body horror. There’s something for everyone in this list, which is chock-full of films deemed unfit for human consumption, by Catholic leaders. In an age where book bans are becoming commonplace, fears of censorship loom large, and the threat of Christian Nationalism is all too real, it seems an appropriate time to revisit this sordid chapter in Catholic history, and to re-evaluate these ”immoral” films. Content warning: Mature themes, occasional language, and discussion of religious trauma