Banning Smoking in Films (R rating)?? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Savage]

Arggh!! I both hate and love portions of this article. First there is a group of people pushing for a movie to have an R Rating if anyone is smoking. Second there is some movement to give consumers greater "Fair Use" rights.

CNN Article on Banning Smoking in Films and Fair Use Laws

Laters,
Jeff

 

[Dave Gorman]

And seeing so many murders in movies and TV as a kid would explain why I've been enticed to murder so many people.

 

[Magnus T]

Ugh... WHEN WILL THE MADNESS STOP!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Why don't we ban inconsiderate, rude behavior and disrespect towards one's elders from PG rated films while we're at it.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Geez, whats next? Not allowing heathen coloured-folk to be in the moving pictures? How about an NC-17 for movies were the actresses wear pants (as opposed to ankle-length skirts).

 

[Mark Shannon]

Oh Common!!!

Now that's jsut pathetic. I mean, nudity, sure. Sexual talk, sure. Hell, even course language and violence are suitable candidates for R-rated films. But SMOKING?

Oh Common!

I grow up with friends that smoke, my father smokes, and I see it plenty in public. Being only 16, peer pressure sure is a bitch. Never once have I EVER wanted to smoke. And the movies don't do ANYTHING to strengthen this.

I don't know where they got their information, or surveys, but obviously they were just told what they wanted to hear (or what they thought they heard).

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I recently heard on CNN that it's projected that 2004 will be the first year in which more deaths will occur as a result of obesity than as a result of smoking.

In light of this I'm calling for the immediate reclassification of all films that depict characters eating more food than can be burned off by vigoruous exercise depicted in other scenes in the film. These films should be given a new rating: PIG, and viewing should be restricted to certified anorexics.

 

[KyleK]

Actually, this sort of thing is quite rare.

Kyle

 

[JonZ]

Plays "The Idiots Are Taking Over"

Insane.

 

[Holadem]

I may be wrong, but hasn't smoking been relegated nowadays to something only bad guys (looking stylish) or people under a great deal of stress do?

I can't remember the last time I saw a "normal" protagonist smoke regularly on screen. One notable exception is Nicolas Cage in Matchstick Men, and even then, he was a neurotic.

--
H

 

[Jeff Savage]

Ok how about the other part of the article? You know the one that says a bunch of lawmakers want to gut the DMCA and give the consumers back more fair use rights? I am more excited about that.

Laters,
Jeff

 

[Tony Whalen]

Even though I'm an ex-smoker, this is just silly. Seeing characters in movies (and TV) was never a factor for my habit. Peer pressure was a big one, but seeing some movie hero smoke did nothing to make me thing smoking was a good thing.

 

[Max Leung]

There is no evidence that watching people smoke in the movies or on TV increases the urge to take up smoking. It might give smokers the jitters when they haven't gotten their hit though. But that's their damn fault.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I don’t actually know if there is evidence or not, but it would be interesting to see a study that looked at those films of the 30s and 40s, with their glamorized smoking and the attitudes of the audiences of the day towards smoking.

I’m sure that it would be impossible to do anything now, other than to make a statistical correlation (which would not imply causality)—nonetheless, I sort of expect that at least some of the audience might have been persuaded to smoke back then.

BTW, this does not mean that I favor any kind of censorship towards the depiction of smoking in films.

 

[RobertR]

Exactly the point I was going to make. There are a number of examples of movies and TV influencing popular culture:

Tshirt sales plummeted after Clark Gable was shown not wearing one in It happened One Night.

Many women decided to emulate Veronica Lake's hair style.

Large numbers of men decided it was "sexy" to wear a stubble when Miami Vice was popular.

Still more men (or maybe the same bunch) decided the "Urban Cowboy" look would enable them to pick up chicks after seeing the movie.

Young girls emulate the "Britney Spears" look.

Given such examples, why is it so hard to believe that seeing a "glamorous", "sexy", "cool" depiction of smoking has an effect on some people?

 

[Holadem]

It probably does. I guess some are so afraid of the shadow of censorship that they would rather deny any facts that might lead to it.

--
H

 

[Jack Briggs]

Everyone, it just seems to me that since this is a movie-related discussion it should be located here. No?

Yes, films do influence people -- one film has had a direct impact on my thinking about the world and humankind.

Films, I am certain, have influenced some people to make unwise choices in life (and in death, apparently -- remember the kids who laid down in the middle of a highway after having seen such a scene in a film about college basketball? Or the adolescents who paid a dear price while emulating the stunts in Jack Ass?).

Ultimately, though, it's all about taking personal responsibility for one's own actions, whether they were "inspired" by a book, poem, speech, or film. To peg an R rating on a film simply because a character is shown smoking, however, reeks of the ever-intensifying political opportunism that has arisen in the wake of Janet Jackson's contrived "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Superbowl halftime show.

 

[JonZ]

"There is no evidence that watching people smoke in the movies or on TV increases the urge to take up smoking."

After I quit seeing someone smoke on TV or film definitely make me "miss" it for awhile at least.

Besides, R rated films are for adults who shouldnt have to deal with peer pressure

 

[Brant]

I can't recall the title (It may have been the Ghost from the Grand Banks), but one of Arthur C. Clarke's characters' job was to erase smoking & references to smoking from old movies & TV shows. Is another of his SciFi ideas becoming reality? After all, he came up with the idea of geosyncronous satelites.

 

[WillG]

Well, I will say this. There is no evidence of other alledged smoking releated hazards, but it doesn't stop people from banning it. I agree, very stupid. Will this require the MPAA to re-rate all older films that show smoking characters to an "R" Next if a film has one curse word or reference to sex, it should be given an R. Only 3 ratings in the future "G" "R" and "NC-17." Oh wait, I guess we would still need a rating that allows for all the violence in the world, that will be "PG-13"