Denigrating films and their prohibition in the State of Veracruz, Mexico between 1922 and 1923

Abstract

One of the great problems that General Álvaro Obregón (1920-1924) had as head of the presidency of Mexico, was obtaining recognition from the United States of America government. The entry into force of the articles of the Political Constitution of 1917, especially those relat-ed to the oil industry, led to a tense environment between Mexico City and Washington, which resulted in some discrepancies. One of them was with the American film industry, where the federal government prohibited the projection of American films in the national territory, which were considered degrading to the Mexican people. This essay is an approach to the conflict between the emerging film industry of the United States of America and the Mexican federal government and the impact it had on the theaters and variety halls in the State of Veracruz between the years of 1922 and 1923. It is divided into three sections: the creation of the stereotype of the Mexican from the American per-spective and its adaptation in the cinema of that country, the censorship measures applied that gave rise to the confrontation, ending with the application of the government of the state of Veracruz and its munici-palities of provisions to combat denigrating content.

Keywords

• cinema
• veracruz
• history
• theaters
• censorship
• politics
• diplomacy
• propaganda