Movies With Smoking to Affect Rating

[4X4]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...MOKING-ODD.xml


I say good!

What do you say?

[worth]

completly stupid. the responsibility is upon the parents.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

You mean the kids won't get to see "Message from Sector 6"?!!?!?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Dion]

More government control.

I agree with Worth, let the parents decide.

[JD]

So are we trying to hide from our children that smoking exists?

What if my son looks up to uncle Rob, who happens to smoke? Should I hide that too?

I say better to allow your kids to be aware of all these "bad things" and explain to them what the facts are surrounding them.

"Son, smoking is expensive, causes cancer and makes people stink real bad"

Done. Then get them involved in activities as teenagers so that they aren't bored one day looking for something to get into. That tends to be how smoking starts!

That's my simplified theory. So no, movies with smoking shouldn't have a different rating.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Dion

More government control.

I agree with Worth, let the parents decide.

Agreed. The problem is making kids understand the difference between real life and movies, simply taking away movies isn't going to solve the problem. You have to help them understand.

Locke.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Dion

More government control.

I agree with Worth, let the parents decide.

FYI, the MPAA isn't a government organization but rather an industry trade group.

Either way, this is a stupid policy. The studios will pressure filmmakers into altering their artistic vision if the MPAA doesn't give it a rating they want. This just reeks of censorship.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

really though, isn't this done already?

People who smoke in today's movies are RAVs, Russians, Arabs, or Villians (atleast according to Hollywood super agent Jeff Megall of Global Entertainment Offices)

[sadora]

That's completely stupid.

[Bobblehead]

Well, to play devils's advocate, you often see kids emulating their favourite stars. Perhaps this is just an attempt to minimize that sort of emulation.

Personally, I think more emphasis should be put on enforcing the age limit of buying smokes, at least if the recent blitz where 70%+ of retailers sold to under-aged kids is any indication (I can't find a link, it was in the news a few weeks ago)

[MarchHare]

Well, to play devils's advocate, you often see kids emulating their favourite stars. Perhaps this is just an attempt to minimize that sort of emulation.

Of course that's true; the tobacco industry has been using Hollywood films for decades to make smoking appear to be "cool". That doesn't justify this measure, though, and I'm one of the most ardent anti-smokers you'll meet.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

to continue with Devil's Advocate

is it really different from a certain picture that can't be posted on CP?

[Cerebral]

Imagine having to wait until you're 21 years old to watch 101 Dalmations.

[Ford Prefect]

This is getting stupid. Kids can see rape, murder, dismemberment, infidelity, etc. anytime they flick the tube on. And meddling do-gooders are concerned that showing consumption of tobacco products in flim is going to turn kids into smokers? If that's the case, why aren't they also worried our kids are going to turn into raping, whoring, dismembering axe murders? And are they going to ban just about every movie made before 1980? People need to get a clearer grip on the what the real issues are that threaten our world and children.

[Titan]

To be fair, the ones that brought the ratings in were the motion picture industry. They can't control what is on t.v. This gives parents, that choose to do so, the ability to determine what their kids will see. I think it is a proactive policy.

[FireFly]

I like it. According to the link it was only excessive smoking. Something tells me the movies that would fall into this category are already rated R or 18A or whatever the heck they call it nowadays. Now you just get an additional warning that not only is the movie rated this way for language, violence and sexual content, it's also rated this way for excessive smoking.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

to continue with Devil's Advocate

is it really different from a certain picture that can't be posted on CP?

I know which picture you are talking about, but for a second I thought you meant Winsor Pilates avatar.

Edit here it is:

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Titan

To be fair, the ones that brought the ratings in were the motion picture industry. They can't control what is on t.v. This gives parents, that choose to do so, the ability to determine what their kids will see. I think it is a proactive policy.

If kids can see the same stuff on TV, just how effective will this policy be? Not much IMO.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

This rating idea would help persuade movie companies to keep needless smoking out of movies so they wouldn't get hit with an R rating. Typically movies with an R rating earn less money then those with a PG rating because of the smaller audience.

[Cowboy89]

There's some basis for this arguement. Somehow incidences of new male smokers is down, while new female smokers are up. While there's still a sector of the population increasing their smoking habits it's probably a good idea to find ways of reversing it. Problem is when I was a kid a movie was so much 'cooler' if it was rated higher or was difficult to get in as an underager, even if the movie was terrible. If smoking gets pushed exclusively to 14A and 18A movies then it might actually entice wannabe grown-up teens to mimic them and smoke more.