Smoking warnings for US movies

[NashVegas]

Source: BBC

The US film ratings board has announced it will now take smoking into account along with sex, violence and adult language when classifying movies.

Descriptions such as "glamorised smoking" could now accompany ratings.

....
But anti-smoking campaign group Breathe California said the MPAA plans did not go far enough.

Some critics of smoking in films have said all films showing tobacco use should be given an R rating - meaning only over-17s could see the film unless accompanied by a guardian.

...
Joan Graves, who heads the ratings board, said a film such as 2005's Good Night and Good Luck - about chain-smoking journalist Edward R Murrow - would have carried a pervasive smoking warning if it was rated today.

But it would probably have retained its PG rating because of its historical context in the 1950s.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6646345.stm

---

Amusing.

[TommyO]

1. I would say ridiculous instead of amusing

I'm a non-smoker who, along with my two brothers, convinced my parents to quit back in 1776, um er, 1976 (am I getting a look only a mother could give?). I find it absolutely ludicrous that hard core violence is still less of a reason to get an "R" rating than sex, and now cigarettes. I've been saying "fuck the MPAA" for years, and now there's even more reason to do that.

[skooooo]

2. oh brother

:eyes:

[MrPrax]

3. So long as the Hayes Code doesn't

cover 'real' artists and only dictates guidelines for employees working in the ad-friendly information and entertainment cartels, then who cares...for people that buy that product, they probably need guidelines to make sure they are not confronted by something 'unusual' that might require context.

I secretly don't mind that the industry is continuing to 'nerf' their shitty products; it has the same effect as DRM. Those ratings act as a warning labels and simply drive people away.

[Amused Musings]

4. It is kind of sad that

no one is influenced enough by books anymore to stir the nanny-state. Or maybe its because the two go so well together that they do not want to mess up a good thing.

[Paladin]

5. Wow, That Was Quick

I figured that this topic would attract a "nanny state" designation, but by the fourth post? Really speedy.

Actually, I have to agree that this hysteria over smoking on film is beyond ridiculous. Because smoking has fallen into such disfavor in modern times, its depiction in period-piece movies adds a great deal to the films' mood and impact---the aforementioned "Good Night and Good Luck" being a prime example.

[Amused Musings]

6. There are always

the RAV's
Russians
Arabs
Villians

This is from a hysterically funny novel (and movie!) Thank You For Smoking.

[kimmylavin]

7. I agree.

You can't NOT know that smoking is bad for you, and the "protect the children" argument doesn't hold: kids are taught from - I don't know - infancy? that its bad.

I don't smoke, never have. But I'm a filmmaker, and damn if smoke doesn't look beautiful up on screen.
Given a choice, I'd rather see two characters smoking than blowing each others' heads off.
And I would never confuse the two as equally harmful for people to see.

[Sabriel]

8. Actors are still allowed to smoke...

...as long as they keep one foot on the floor.

How about they provide a "Dangerous Inattentive Driving" warning, too, for those movies scenes where the driver doesn't look at the road for most of the dialog? Or an "Unrealistic Parking" warning, so that people don't actually start to think they can find a spot RIGHT in front of the desired building?

[MindPilot]

12. I think they should have "improbable relationship" warnings too.

The hero always finds a hot young woman to accompany him on his adventure (which in and of itself is improbable and unrealistic) and they usually end up having...S-E-X!!!!!

[MindPilot]

9. I saw Fred Flintstone smoking.

Have I been damaged in some way? Emotionally scarred for life? Subliminally influenced by movie industry mind-control techniques? Should I seek therapy? Maybe I need a lawyer.

[sadiesworld]

10. They already take drug use into account...

I'm not sure why it wouldn't fall into that category.

[Zorro]

11. Gunsmoke is still A-OK, though

[MissMillie]

13. My take on this

I'm a-ok with there being less smoking in movies.

Do I think that this is something people should spend a lot of time and effort controlling, monitoring and legislating? Hell NO

Jeez.... don't we, as a society, have anything better to do? Hunger, health care, voter oppression, war, lack-luster education, national debt, global climate change.....


Gee, let's worry about what's on the damned movie screen. :sarcasm:

[MindPilot]

14. "This Film Is Not Yet Rated"

is a great documentary about the formation of the MPAA, the people in it, how it works and especially how they use their power to suppress indy films while turning others into blockbusters.

At one point in the film there is a news reel clip from the McCarthy-era Hollywood Blacklist hearings wherein some moralist politician is ranting about how communists have infiltrated every nook and cranny of America. "The Communists hate our movies; they hate our way of life; they HATE US FOR OUR FREEDOM!"

edit for tyop

[truthisfreedom]

15. But smoking IS glamourous!

I looked up the definition!

[elocs]

16. There was pipe smoking in all 3 of the Lord of the Rings movies.

What a shame it would have been if those movies had gotten an R rating because of smoking.

[unpossibles]

17. this is so ridiculous

I notice they don't go after things like product placement, which I find to be more heinous personally.

amusing anecdote: i watched Sin City with my dad, a vehement anti-smoker. At some point late in the film (which has a very Noir feel to it, thus is filled with lots of crime and smoking), my dad complained that it was horrible because it was just a 2 hour long smoking commercial.

I turned to him and asked him why the shooting and beheading didn't bother him.

[DemSoccerMom]

18. I'm much more worried about my kids seeing actors smoke

in movies than I am having them see someone raped and murdered. :sarcasm: I think the MPAA should be a little more concerned w/ the way women, the gay and the transgendered are portrayed in some films than if someone lights up a cig. This is absurd. I'm a little disgusted. Unfortunately, I'm not TOO surprised.

ED: for content and spelling

[SheilaT]

19. This is silly.

But I've long been bothered by the way smoking is glamorized in movies. The answer isn't to change the ratings. The answer is that once in a while a movie manage to show the down side of smoking: cancer, emphysema, early death, burned down houses, stinky breath, premature aging. Instead, we get treated with scenes of someone defiantly lighting up in a restaurant and surrounding patrons cheering.

Oh, well. I just try to ignore the smoking in movies.

However, it is interesting to look at movies from before about 1960 and notice how much more casually people smoked in them. It's quite a fascinating cultural and behavioral change.

[truebrit71]

20. More f*cking stupidity from the Nanny State

Do people REALLY have that much spare time on their hands fer fuck's sake?

:eyes:

[OnyxCollie]

21. "I've lost my keys."

"I'll help you find them. Where did you lose them?

"A couple blocks down the street, but the light's much better here."

This is ridiculous. Who has a greater influence on kids to smoke? An actor in a movie, or some kid's older brother or sister? Or friends in his/her peer group?

But we can do something about movies.

[Dulcinea]

23. You nailed it.

"This is ridiculous. Who has a greater influence on kids to smoke? An actor in a movie, or some kid's older brother or sister? Or friends in his/her peer group?

But we can do something about movies."

Couldn't have said it better.

We can slap a smoking rating on movies, but there's no way anyone will stop a kid from trying cigarettes if all his/her friends smoke. Every last smoker I've ever known has started that way, & no anti-smoking group will ever be able to defeat that.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

22. Well, this is fucking stupid.

[WindRavenX]

24. I'd laugh if this wasn't so pathetic.

NT