Smoking in Movies

[vegeta rocker]

The Motion Picture Association of America is trying to rate smoking in movies so that it actually affects the rating that they are given.

I personally think it's going a bit far but they say they have studies that back up that children have a higher chance of smoking.

In my opinion, if you are going to smoke then you are going to smoke. My mother used to smoke and and my dad smoked until the day he died.

I have watched tons of movies where they smoke, and i don't.


For more info, here is the article.

[URL=http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2078119,00.html]Click ME![/URL]

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]More censorship. I point back to Ray Bradbury's [U][I]Fahrenheit 451[/I][/U] for precedence.

Personally, I don't really care whether or not a film could potentially influence minors to smoke. Minors have brains, too; if they see someone on the silver screen with a cigarette (or other such item), the first thought should simply be "Oh, that person's smoking." The addition "Oh, that person's smoking, [I]so it must be a good thing to do[/I]" is a personal judgment, and the producers of a film shouldn't have to worry about whether or not every person who sees their film is capable of such discernment.

That's not to say that I encourage smoking scenes in movies for very small children. I only mean that often for films the intended audience and the actual audience are not going to be the same.[/FONT]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Seems like it's just another way to blame someone else for choosing to smoke if you ask me. I've got relatives who smoke and I've seen all sorts of smoking in shows, anime and I read about it in fiction books. If all that isn't enough, movies isn't about to encourage me to start smoking.

The thing about saying it influences younger children is, even if kids do imitate adults, they still have to find a way to get the cigarette to give it a try in the first place. So seems to me that on some level that would fall more on the parents or stores that don't enforce the law good enough when it comes to keeping those cigarettes out of kids and teenagers hands. Or the adults who purchase them and give them to minors since there are a few I know of who will sell them to you if you want them.[/COLOR]

[DeadSeraphim]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial]Considering how often they make villians smoke to convey 'evil', in movies from PG upward, this'll really **** up the whole classification system.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Shinmaru]

I wonder how many dead bodies in a movie = 1 cigarette?

[Kitchen Sink]

[font=Verdana][size=2]As a youngster, I've found that, in most cases, adults won't trust you to make the kind of judgemenbt call needed to abstain from smoking when it is depicted in a movie as "cool"[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2]However, I can watch somebody smoke on screen without being tempted to do so myself. My parents (and those anti-smoking ads) have taught me about the long term effects of smoking and, no matter how glamorous it appears on screen, I know I don't want to go down that path.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=2]Education, not restriction, is key to changing the attitudes of young people to smoking.[/size][/font]

[brokenxtoys263]

I fully agree. When I see people smoke on the big screens I just see death sticks that make you get closer and closer to your demise. And personally I think its insutling to ban or restrict us teens watching movies just because someone is smoking. Do they think we ae dumb and make judgements on how and what we think is cool or not cool to do just because a character in a movie is doing it. :animeangr

[Raiyuu]

I don't think it's even [b]necessary.[/b] Smoking gets such a bad rep in biology classes, PSHE classes, the news, doctors' recommendations, everything. Not showing smokers in below 12-rated films isn't going to actually make a difference.

On a related note, every enclosed space in England is going smoke-free in the next couple of months. [b]That[/b] will discourage smoking, when you have to excuse yourself to go stand in the rain if you want to do it.

[Sojiro47]

[color=darkgreen]I'm with Raiyuu. This isn't even nessisary. If they ae going to start rating movies differently because of the number on cigarettes there are in the movie, why don't they rate TV shows differently as well. And while we're here, lets add drinking to the list of things to decide how to rate a movie/show.

Most people can distinguish the difference between real life and movies. Do they think that if its cut down in the movies, we won't see it on the street? I [COLOR=Black][B]don't[/B][/COLOR] think that people are going to smoke because it's in the movies, but rather because when they come home from the movies, their parents are doing it.

After watching the [I]Breakfast Club[/I], how many of us went and got high,put a flare gun in our lockers,taped some guy's butt together, and (or) just showed up to detention because we could? I doubt anyone did. It just seems like a waste of time to the directors and the raters to me.[/color]

[DeadSeraphim]

[quote name='Raiyuu']On a related note, every enclosed space in England is going smoke-free in the next couple of months. That will discourage smoking, when you have to excuse yourself to go stand in the rain if you want to do it.[/quote]
[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]It's been like that in Australia for a year - you can't even smoke within 4 metres of a shop door. You'd be surprised how little of an impact it makes though. People smoke because they want to smoke, government discouragement isn't about to change that.[/font][/color][/size]

[Sojiro47]

[color=darkgreen]I live in Washington State, here in the U.S, and Smoking in restaraunts is illegal, and the distance from any building when smoking it suposed to be 25 feet (7 some meters). But it doesn't stop them, at least with the latter. People do what they want, regardless of what the government says.[/color]

[Guest Clonesy]

[color=deeppink] I agree with opinions expressed here. You have to be incredibly naive of the world around you to take up the habit of smoking just because you saw a giant Keanu Reeves light up 300 in Constantine. Wait, that movie showed the ill-effects of smoking and painted it as unglamorous, but you get the idea.

I reckon it should be restricted, just for the sake of the neadnerthals who blindly copy everything they see on screen. The world has enough of us clones already, we don't need any more jumping on the bandwagon because they screwed their health via smoking.[/color]

[Domon]

[COLOR=Blue][SIZE=1]Personally I think that its pretty lame that the Motion Picture Association wants to actually make smoking part of rating a movie! I mean jeez!! I mean come on. Smoking?? Its not as if a lot of people that go to the movies don't either smoke or know someone who smokes.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Boo]

[quote name='Sojiro47][color=darkgreen] I [COLOR=Black][B]don't[/B][/COLOR'] think that people are going to smoke because it's in the movies, but rather because when they come home from the movies, their parents are doing it.[/color][/quote][size=1]I'm sorry, but if some kid sees a really kickass person on TV who he totally wants to be, because kids want to be people they see on TV, and that kickass person is smoking, I think you may consider the possibility that that kid might make the connection between "kickass person" and "smoking" rather quickly.[/size]

[Sojiro47]

[COLOR=DarkGreen][FONT=Impact]What about all those other kickass guys who [i]don't[/i] smoke in the movies? Are you trying to tell me, Boo, that even though the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles don't smoke, when a kid sees Indiana Jones light up, it becomes ok to smoke? Thats a 4:1 ratio against smoking, brought to you by the movies. That's got to be one [COLOR=black]BADASS [/COLOR] "1".[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Nerdsy]

[quote name='Sojiro47][COLOR=DarkGreen][FONT=Impact]What about all those other kickass guys who [i]don't[/i] smoke in the movies? Are you trying to tell me, Boo, that even though the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles don't smoke, when a kid sees Indiana Jones light up, it becomes ok to smoke? Thats a 4:1 ratio against smoking, brought to you by the movies. That's got to be one [COLOR=black]BADASS [/COLOR] "1".[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]

[color=deeppink]That's an overly simplistic analogy. First, it assumes that all kids watch both Ninja Turtles and Indiana Jones, which is simply not true. There are kids out there who are only going to get one side of it.

Second, kids the absence of smoking does not counter-act the presence of smoking. Kids probably aren't even going to [i]notice[/i] when a character never smokes; I know I don't. They're not going to think, "Oh, that guys baddass because he doesn't smoke," and try to emulate that. Only if the chracters they watch actually say not to smoke will it have any sort of effect, and even that hardly ever works.

Third, you're ignoring the whole desire to be an adult that hits kids around age 10 or so. Most adaptations of the Turtles do not scream adult; Indiana Jones, however, is a fully grown man. He's gong to hold a lot more sway over the "I'm an adult, damnit!" crowd of kids than a bunch of anthropomorphic turtles.

And fianlly, while I don't explicitly recall the Turtles smoking (I believe the do somewhere, though), the first live-action movie has [i]kids[/i] smoking. I wonder how many kids saw that, and thought "wow, that kid is freakin' cool! I should skateboard and smoke."[/color]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR=DarkOrange]I like it when my movie characters smoke, and yes I do think it makes them look cool. I even make my characters smoke sometimes for the same effect? Do I smoke? Hell no. do I even remotely believe that seeing TV characters smoke is what makes teens do it? Again, no.

Teens smoke because they are bastards. In fast, it's crap like this that [i]makes[/i] teens want to smoke. high five for corporate america.[/COLOR]

[Sojiro47]

[COLOR=DarkGreen][FONT=Impact]Ok, I know that what I said was overly simplistic, but I've made my point, no? Just because there is smoking in a movie does [COLOR=Black][b]not[/b][/COLOR] mean that the childern watching ar going to smoke. And neither does the fact that there isn't smoking mean that they won't. People are going to smoke if A)They have not been told it's bad. B)They grew up around it. and C)They just want to. But that is neither anything Hollywood cares about or can effect. We all, I think, decided to smoke (or not) because we wanted to, not because of the movies. Am I right?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Boo]

[quote name='Sojiro47][COLOR=DarkGreen][FONT=Impact]What about all those other kickass guys who [i]don't[/i] smoke in the movies? Are you trying to tell me, Boo, that even though the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles don't smoke, when a kid sees Indiana Jones light up, it becomes ok to smoke? Thats a 4:1 ratio against smoking, brought to you by the movies. That's got to be one [COLOR=black]BADASS [/COLOR] "1".[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote][size=1]Eh, Indiana Jones is kickass, TMNT are not kickass. So yes, 1 beats 4. Besides, nobody wants to steal a turtle mutant's style, while a lot more people would like to walk around like a nonchalant smoking Johnny Depp, for example.

Nerdsy pretty much said what needed to be said about your silly post, anyway. [/size][quote name='Sojiro47][COLOR=DarkGreen][FONT=Impact]Just because there is smoking in a movie does [COLOR=Black][b]not[/b][/COLOR] mean that the childern watching ar going to smoke. [/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]
[size=1]No it doesn't, but you should at least consider the possibility.

And please, for the sake of all that the pope considers to be holy, don't post with such a horrific font and colour.[/size]

[Fyxe]

[size=1]Most minors that smoke are influenced by friends, not movies or television. You can't blame everything on Hollywood. ;)[/size]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[quote name='Fyxe][size=1']Most minors that smoke are influenced by friends, not movies or television. You can't blame everything on Hollywood. ;)[/size][/quote]

[COLOR=DarkOrange] :animesmil Exactly. They learn it from their friends who learn it from their friends and their friends and those guys learned it from their abusive parents who they wanted to piss off by turning to a life of alcohol and drugs. Next thing you know the whole group is smoking, drinking, getting high every day and listening to [B]Marylin Manson [/B] XD. (not blaming Manson; it's not him that leads to drugs, it's drugs that lead to him.)[/COLOR]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR=DarkRed][quote name='Fyxe][size=1']Most minors that smoke are influenced by friends, not movies or television. You can't blame everything on Hollywood. ;)[/size][/quote]I agree.

Honestly, even if they get the idea from watching a movie, the minor still makes the choice to go and find a way to be able to smoke. And in the end I remember having friends trying to pressure me into smoking more than any movie ever did.

I never did smoke, but I don't even remember seeing a movie and thinking, oh that guy smokes, I should to!

Besides, like it's been mentioned, it's not like it isn't fairly common knowledge on how harmful smoking is. For some minors seeing actors they like smoking is a turn off instead of an inspiration to go and start smoking.[/COLOR]

[Nerdsy]

[quote name='Sojiro47]Just because there is smoking in a movie does [COLOR=Black][b]not[/b][/COLOR'] mean that the childern watching ar going to smoke.[/quote]

[color=deeppink]Yes, it does. I'm not saying it's a guarantee, or that it's widespread or the norm, but it [i]is[/i] a factor. I can attest to that; when I was a kid, I thought Groucho Marx was the coolest mofo on the planet. I wanted to be like him, so I took to pretending I was smoking cigars by putting a pencil or something in my mouth. And I'll tell you, if I had a real cigar I would have smoked it while cracking wise. I'm older and wiser now, but back then the only thing that saved me was my lack of ability to get a cigar.[/color]

[quote]We all, I think, decided to smoke (or not) because we wanted to, not because of the movies. Am I right? [/QUOTE]

[color=deeppink]My eventual decision not to smoke is based in part upon negative portrayals in films and television; the Smoking Man and Constantine come to mind. I also know someone who tried to quit after watching Constantine. The addiction has proven to be too strong for him so far, but he's still trying, and it was all started by that movie.

Besdies, they're not cutting smoking from movies. They're just going to rate them differently.

Which makes me curious; do any of you naysayers think that we should abolish the ratings system entirely because movies don't influence people? That's what the entire thing is for; to keep things like sex and violence from influencing kids. [/color]

[Maully]

I didn't read the entire topic, but to try and bring a different arguement to the screen, just because a movie is rated R does that actually mean that less children will see it? I was just at an R rated movie tonight (28 weeks later) and there were 1 infant and 2 children under the age of 10 in the theatre, presumably brought by the parents. Another example, when I was in colege, [I]The Exorcist[/I] was rereleased to theaters. I went to a midnight showing on Halloween, and it was like a freakin' daycare. I actually told some lady who brought her 4 kids under 12 that if she couldn't afford a babysitter, she couldn't afford to go to the movies. Kinda harsh, but I plead the fifth.

Anyway, back to the point, is rating a movie R going to make less kids see it? I don't think so. Yeah my parents kept me sheltered as much as possible, but sadly many parents pay little attention these days.

[Allamorph]

[quote name='Nerdsy][color=deeppink']Which makes me curious; do any of you naysayers think that we should abolish the ratings system entirely because movies don't influence people? That's what the entire thing is for; to keep things like sex and violence from influencing kids. [/color][/quote]
[FONT=Arial]Actually, I'd like to abolish the rating system because it's just plain ineffective, mostly due to ambiguous messaging present in the [strike]scores[/strike] scripts?which brings up another thought: there is a marked difference between realistic smoking and advertising smoking.
[QUOTE][COLOR=deeppink][I]I can attest to that; when I was a kid, I thought Groucho Marx was the coolest mofo on the planet. I wanted to be like him, so I took to pretending I was smoking cigars by putting a pencil or something in my mouth.[/I][/COLOR][/QUOTE]
Groucho's cigar was a part of his image, just as Sherlock Holmes' tobacco pipe and opium were a part of his. I also thought Groucho was pretty dang awesome (PDA...heh.), just as I still emulate Holmes nine years after I first picked him up. They didn't inspire me to smoke because I could recognize the smoking as an image thing that did not tie in completely with who they were; Conan Doyle even has Watson acknowledge Holmes' habits as vices. I also thought the Three Stooges were the stuff, but they didn't inspire me to get a bowl-cut or go baldie. True, I wanted to be like them, so I cracked wise (still do), I pulled schtick, and I taught myself how to observe and notice and think and connect. I picked up their mannerisms, but never felt the need to pick up their habits.

Point being, Marx and Holmes did not (as far as I know) smoke to promote smoking. Granted, Holmes is a character on paper, but in the few movies based on Conan Doyle's work the producers kept the pipe because it was a recognized part of his image, right along with the cap.

[quote name='vegeta rocker's article][FONT=Arial']In its defence, the MPAA points out that the worst excesses of tobacco companies paying for their wares to be planted in movies have been curbed by prohibitions in place since 1998. Instances prior to this include the $350,000 (£175,000) paid to producers of Licence to Kill for James Bond to be seen smoking Larks, or the $40,000 Philip Morris paid for Lois Lane to drag on Marlboros in Superman II.[/FONT][/quote]

These are obvious cases of smoking to advertise, and while Superman may have been for everyone, License to Kill was most certainly not produced with small children in mind.

Essentially, I blame the audience's lack of discretion for any influencing that may occur or may have occurred. The only thing crying "foul!" about it will accomplish is ridiculous rating protocol that will most likely be ignored anyway.

It's like suing McDonald's because you burned your crotch with their hot coffee. Either way you look like a doofus.[/FONT]