The Code sought not only to determine what could be portrayed on screen, but also to promote conservative traditional values.[19] Sexual relations outside of marriage could not be portrayed as attractive and beautiful, presented in a way that might arouse passion or be made to seem right and permissible.[15] All criminal action had to be punished, and neither the crime nor the criminal could elicit sympathy from the audience.[5] Authority figures had to be treated respectfully, and the clergy could not be portrayed as comic characters or villains. Under some circumstances, politicians, police officers and judges could be villains, as long as it was clear that they were the exception to the rule.[15]