SSC Stenographer 2024 PYQ — Question 5

Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Scarlett O'Hara famously asked her husband, Rhett Butler, “'Where shall I go?' to which he famously replied, 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.' One of the finest movie quotations ever is found toward the end of director Victor Fleming’s 1939 American historical romantic epic film, Gone with the Wind, it's also one of all-time favourite lines from a movie. But in 1930s American society, the term ‘damn’ was a swear word. Due to the word’s offensive nature and consequent prohibition by the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code, sometimes known as the ‘Hays Code’, American film censors insisted on its removal two months prior to the movie’s release. A few weeks before the movie's release, the Motion Picture Association of America board amended the Production Code, which caused the censors to change their minds.
A word that had originally been offensive became suddenly unoffensive, most likely as a result of the changed sensitivities of American culture that made it possible to update the Motion Picture Production Code. Since then, American perceptions of these issues have advanced significantly.
What is offensive to society will continue to be offensive unless its sensibilities significantly shift. People’s senses, belief systems, conventions, and practises don’t change suddenly. They develop slowly. Therefore, it is meaningless to inquire as to why something should be offensive to some while not being so to others, or why people aren’t saner and more tolerant when it comes to sensitive and disputed social topics.
Cinema has a significant impact on its consumers since it is a captivating audio-visual medium of entertainment that teaches information, knowledge, beliefs, values, etc. A film’s effects on people and society can be either beneficial or bad depending on its subject matter and method of presentation. While a movie may be suitable for certain people’s age and sensibilities, it may not be suitable for other people’s age and sensibilities. Not everyone is intended to watch every movie. A controversial movie might also spark societal turmoil or even violence. As a result, every nation requires a formal agency to oversee its cinema ethics and policy. In India, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), sometimes known as the ‘Censor Board’, must certify a movie as appropriate for the purpose before it can be released for public screening.
Under the Cinematograph Act of 1952, the CBFC, which operates as a statutory agency under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, controls how movies are shown. Its responsibility is to make sure that the nation’s citizens enjoy wholesome enjoyment through cinematic media. The CBFC is required to certify that a movie, in whole or in part, does not jeopardise India’s sovereignty and integrity, jeopardise its security and relations with foreign states, cause public disorder or crime, cause defamation or court contempt, violate social norms and values, offend any group of people or community, etc.