# Was the word "rape" basically taboo on TV during the fifties? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730 "2024-11-05T16:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/41 "2024-11-06T01:35:42Z")
No…_How the West was Won_ And, Many, if not all of Wayne’s early movies were sprinkled with racism and misogyny. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/42 "2024-11-06T02:16:30Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Every script need to be vetted by a priest, minister, and rabbi. Did they do their script review in a bar? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/43 "2024-11-06T02:24:42Z")
😄 funny ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/44 "2024-11-06T04:19:06Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’m remember an old episode of the Twilight zone where Satan was tempting a minister. > He had everyone call him _Mr. Scratch_. > I was younger and asked my Daddy about that. He told me it was another name for the devil. > Even then I wondered why they just didn’t just say Satan or the Devil. I just watched **The Devil and Daniel Webster** (1941), where the devil’s name is also Scratch. It could be they didn’t want to say Satan or Devil, _but_ the word Devil is in the movie’s title! Maybe it’s OK because the devil loses. From the original story, set in New England: > [@](#): > > “I’ve gone by a good many,” said the stranger carelessly. “Perhaps Scratch will do for the evening. I’m often called that in these regions.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/45 "2024-11-06T09:19:36Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > I do believe Kitty was raped twice on that show, on different episodes. She wasn’t the only one - wasn’t there a whole “white slavery” multi-episode thing? And I can recall at least 2 other rape plots (schoolmarm, and farmer’s daughter). Rape (and men killing to avenge rape) seems to have been a frequent plot point. I guess [_Blazing Saddles_ was right about the West…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bigZ1fmwD-Q) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/46 "2024-11-06T11:28:42Z")
Old Scratch is an old expression for the devil. > **[Old Scratch](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Scratch)** > > Old Scratch or Mr. Scratch is a nickname or pseudonym for the Devil. The name likely comes from Middle English scrat, the name of a demon or goblin, derived from Old Norse skratte. > Examples of usage of the name "Old Scratch" are found in: ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/47 "2024-11-06T14:20:20Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > So apparently “Devil” was a bad word, at least on TV back then, unless you’re talking about deviled eggs. TV was a weird wacky place back then. You could tell a guy to “get his ass outta here”, but only if a donkey was present in the scene. And of course the old classic of pop music: _Miss Susie had a steamboat, The steamboat had a bell. Miss Susie went to heaven, The steamboat went to Hell-o operator,_ Or Harry Chapin, embarrassingly (or embarrdonkeyingly) I git a tire round my gut from sittin on my [thump]But it never gonna go away See how cleverly they said HELL and BUTT. Oh heavens I might have got the vapors if it weren’t for the double meaning! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/48 "2024-11-06T16:19:05Z")
This predated TV. Movies took on the restrictive production code in the 30s; portrayals of rape was specifically banned. Even before the code was adopted, movies sometimes avoided bad words. The pre-code _The Front Page_, used the final line of the play (“That son of a bitch stole my watch!”), but Walter Burns pounds on a typewriter as he says “bitch”, drowning it out. This carried over to television when it was starting out. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/49 "2024-11-06T16:22:41Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > embarrassingly (or embarrdonkeyingly) A couple months back, one of my games served up an ad for one of those “we’ll let you read a chapter of this truly awfully-written story, in exchange for watching a lot of ads or paying far more than the cost of a paperback” apps. The preview in the ad had “bad” words edited to replace them with something less offensive. It took me a few minutes to figure out what “bbottominet”: was (“ass” replaced with “bottom”, so it was a “bassinet”). In To Kill A Mockingbird, the “rape victim” uses some other phrase. “He tampered with me” or some such. It’s been a while since I saw it, so I don’t recall what she said, but the implication was unmistakeable. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/50 "2024-11-06T16:29:34Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > The preview in the ad had “bad” words edited to replace them with something less offensive. > > It took me a few minutes to figure out what “bbottominet”: was (“ass” replaced with “bottom”, so it was a “bassinet”). Heh, when I was a kid a bunch of the books I read had various “offensive” words replaced with “unprintable”. Being a kid I just assumed that the characters were _actually_ saying that and it was some weird swear word. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/51 "2024-11-06T18:37:27Z")
Yep. And had already permeated radio. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/52 "2024-11-06T18:53:33Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > In To Kill A Mockingbird, the “rape victim” uses some other phrase. “He tampered with me” or some such. It’s been a while since I saw it, so I don’t recall what she said, but the implication was unmistakeable. “He took advantage of me”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/53 "2024-11-06T19:06:52Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > “He took advantage of me”. “…and not in the Rodgers and Hart sense.” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GjymmFWy6OY/hqdefault.jpg "Rosemary Clooney - You Took Advantage of Me") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjymmFWy6OY) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/54 "2024-11-06T19:25:44Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@alphaboi867](#): > > > > Every script need to be vetted by a priest, minister, and rabbi. > > Did they do their script review in a bar? God damn you. I was patiently scrolling to the end of the thread, just so I could say, “they’re not hard to find. I hear the walk into bars all the time.” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/55 "2024-11-08T16:14:25Z")
There was an amusing scene in the movie version of _The Ghost and Mrs. Muir_ In order to help Mrs. Muir make some money the ghost, played by Rex Harrison, is dictating his memoirs as a sea captain. She balks at typing something he said and he tells her to write it as he said it. Angrily she goes TAP TAP TAP TAP into the typewriter. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/56 "2024-11-08T16:41:00Z")
Along these lines, I watched episode 16 of season 1 of Alfred Hitchcock last night (from Jan. 1956.) In it John Cassavetes (!) played an escaped con on the run. It was a classic home invasion story - he was lurking outside a house, heard the husband say he was leaving until 8 pm, then burst in with a knife. At the beginning he said that he had been in stir a long time, that the wife was beautiful, and that since he was serving 3 life sentences in a state without a death penalty, he had nothing to lose. The implication was there, but then it was dropped. Great surprise ending which I will not spoil. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/57 "2024-11-08T18:06:23Z")
And also along those lines, consider the very first episode of _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_, where Hitchcock himself directs Vera Miles as the victim of an unnamed assault, assumed to be a rape. It’s one of my favorite episodes of the series (in spite of the horrible sound). I liked the ending, very Hitchcockian. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/58 "2024-11-08T19:09:16Z")
Umm, see the OP. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/59 "2024-11-08T21:51:47Z")
See, it was a really good episode! (I remembered it, but not the OP) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730/60 "2024-11-08T23:50:21Z")
It was done twice. It was also the first episode of a reboot of the series they did long after Hitch died. The remake was an hour long. I’m watching it on the Roku channel, and it is pretty good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-word-rape-basically-taboo-on-tv-during-the-fifties/1009730.md?page=4)