>Self censorship is a thing.

Yes. For example, the Hays Code was not a government thing, it was an internal industry self-censorship that the major film companies worked out by themselves, yet it still got enforced pretty much like a law for over 30 years.

I saw Scarface (1932) the other day, it was at least as entertaining and violent as the remake. Tony Camonte is even more of a madman than Tony Montana, absolute psycho! He kills without remorse while whistling, and beats his sister (who's very cool and makes a funny sexy dance) and wants to bang her. The final shootout should be as iconic as the 1983 one. No gore, of course, and not a bunch of f-words (there is, surprisingly for movies from the time, one "fuck off" though, quite possibly the first ever in a film), but loads of cold-blooded murders, Tommy guns, car chases and hard-boiled funny dialogues.

It's probably a banal statement, but all classics, even the most criticized and controversial ones, are classics for a reason. No book (or movie, artwork, etc.) can be loved by everyone. Just because someone (or even you!) hate a work it doesn't mean that it's not an important part of cultural history.

That being said, I read Catcher in the Rye when I was 21 years old or so, and I loved it! It does capture the soul and voice of a pretentious teenager who thinks he's much more mature than he really i. The language and narrative style is perfectly balancing between parodic and earnest.

Last known photo taken where Ben Affleck's head is normal-sized and doesn't take up the whole fucking screen.

The Okay Wife