It doesn't sound as bad if you phrase it as they did in the article:

"Any movie showing characters smoking should automatically receive an R rating."

Still, that's pushing it. I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say that eliminating smoking in movies will produce approximately zero effect on children smoking.

floor9: I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say that eliminating smoking in movies will produce approximately zero effect on children smoking.

EBM for politics? Not yet.

So Who Framed Roger Rabbit? should be rated R? What are these people, retarded?

ninjakirby: So Who Framed Roger Rabbit? should be rated R? What are these people, retarded?

That movie should be rated R because it's downright scary. I remember the outrage -- OUTRAGE -- when parents took their 3-year-olds to see that flick, thinking it would be a Disney-esque happy-go-lucky story about a lovable talking bunny. Instead it turned out to be Cool World with a rabbit and Doc Brown.

That's farking retarded.

That's farking retarded.

Retards.

Let's watch that idea go up in something

But... You can see someone smoking *everywhere*. Will little blinders now become mandatory if children are to be taken outside?

Children should be banned from watching ANY film showing stars having a smoke, top doctors claim.

They fear kids are encouraged to light up when they see their screen heroes puffing away.

In most movies nowadays they only show the bad guys smoking(or using a gun)

Because if only adults are allowed to do something, children will never want to follow suit.

Doctors can go sit on a dick.

The Flintstones: Rated R!

/unsuitable for children
//don't be like Wilma, kids
///she's a baa-a-ad influence

Parents that smoke increase the chance that their children will smoke.

Obviously we should take children away from parents that smoke.

Are they going to do the same for movies that show killing, sex, drinking, driving, gambling, and eating unhealthy foods?


Remeber that a police state can only take control if the we vote it into power.

Smoking Is Healthier Than Fascism
(pops)

Yeah, because when a cyborg from the future comes back to kill the future leader of the rebellion and spikes people in the face and funs after cars, shape shifts and shoots people, kids are going to copy the smoking part !

I can't believe some peoples mentality, kids are going to prefer time travel to smoking it is way cooler. All time travel films should be 18. Whos with me?

I gave up smoking about 4 years ago, but being inundated by people like the doctors in the article and people like The Truth, and seeing smokers treated like second-class citizens, makes me want to start puffing again. If it wasn't for my obsession with my teeth, I probably would.

GhostFish: Parents that smoke increase the chance that their children will smoke.

Obviously we should take children away from parents that smoke.

laugh now, but one day thats exactly whats going to happen.

My favorite line from the article was "Glenn Close as evil fag hag" and that's really all I have to say about that.

Who cares, the only people who smoke in PG-13 films anymore are either bad guys or "trying to quit". Unless it's set in the '50s, then they'll cram a cigarette into every free mouth they can find, and have lots of gratuitous close-ups as if to say, "Hey! Look! It's a period piece!"

FTFA: Glenn Close as evil fag hag Cruella De Vil

I fully understand the use of "fag" here but I still laughed reimagining Cruella as a lesbian.

/Rule 34, don't fail me now
//Remember the first time you saw "Cruella De Vil" written down and you finally got it?

(1) It's the UK, I don't think they actually use the MPAA guidelines for ratings, given what the last "A" stands for.

(2) It's the UK, they're all about social engineering. Frankly, if you're for people finding their own way and making their own decisions without being controlled by propaganda, you have massively bigger fish to fry than this.

(3) Yeah, 'physicians' are requesting it. Sure. This totally matters more to them than, say, STDs and the encouragement that any movie including a sexually active teenager or a single adult implicitly gives to relatively unsafe sexual practices. It's a bunch of helicopter parents, admit it.

(4) "Only the grown-ups are allowed to do this." Great idea, look how no teenager ever has sex, drinks, or sneaks into a concert. Rebellion totally isn't one of their primary motivations to action or anything.

(5) Can't the UK not even stop it's kids from murdering each other and blowing things up already? Should maybe focus on that before you worry about keeping their virgin minds pure as driven snow.

While I find this silly and going way too far, I feel obligated to point out that Hollywood glamorization of smoking probably DID contribute to the incidence of smoking, especially in the past. Seeing movie stars smoke probably removed some of the stigma associated with the "grossness" of the habit.

Suicidal Writer

I smoke and I too am obsessed with my teeth. Did quitting smoking really have that much of an impact on whiteness and overall gum health?

I'm shocked, SHOCKED to find that gambling smoking is going on in here!

I'm an occaisional, well-controlled smoker myself (had all of five packs this year so far), and I'm of mixed feelings.

I can understand not wanting to put a cigarette in the hero's hand. Or the heroine's hand. Or the naughty-sexy sidekick villainess's hand. (Male villains are usually well-portrayed as creeps.)

I wouldn't want a rule like this to be retroactive. But with new movies just being filmed now, it would be nice to see this play a part in the rating system. Not an automatic R, but play a part, something to consider. And again, context is important.

Goes right along with the theory that if you try weed jut once, the next thing you know you will be gang banging some local Mexicans just for a few hits of battery acid meth, then on to heroin, and well, because it is heroin, you will be dead in a year. (So they say... a few can handle opiates, most cannot)

Smeg say's when it comes to drugs honest information needs to be provided, and then it is up to the individual to make their choices. Some will fark it up, and some will use responsibly. But I guara anpfh ucck entee you, all the government regulation will do is fark it up worse.

We all know what smoking in a G-rated movie might lead to...

I've seen plenty of G, PG and PG13 movies with people drinking alcohol, violence (Planet of the Apes, 2001, even Dr. Strangelove got a PG, and it was about the nuclear annihilation of mankind). Hell, I've seen asses in PG13 movies, in Kindergarten Cop a man is shot through the chest, and as he slumps down blood is smeared across the wall. I think showing children that drinking "pure grain alcohol" and killing people up to the point of nuclear holocaust is worse than showing people smoking. I smoke, and I have to say movies never influenced me. I never thought it was cool because someone in a movie did it, I just like the taste of smoke and it's calming effects. I won't say that it's good for me, because it's terrible, but I like it and it's my choice. I won't smoke by other people because it's not my place to blow smoke at someone else, but if I choose to do it without endangering someone else there's no harm. Personal choice FTW.

and...isn't this already the rule when it comes to pot?

How's THAT workin out?

Mnemia: While I find this silly and going way too far, I feel obligated to point out that Hollywood glamorization of smoking probably DID contribute to the incidence of smoking, especially in the past. Seeing movie stars smoke probably removed some of the stigma associated with the "grossness" of the habit.

Umm, What? Unless I am mistaken (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm drunk) celebrities weren't the reason people smoked. People smoked because the health risks weren't known and because people weren't so farking uptight about "the smell" and other shiat as they are now. And those are just a couple of random reasons off the top of my drunk head.

/The smoking death statistics are bullshiat
//An 85 year old smoker dies, cause of death: Smoking
///An 80 year old non-smoker dies of lung cancer, cause of death: Smoking
////True story, dad's in the "business" of death
//Seriously tho, people shouldn't smoke, not good for you

Smoking DOES make you cool, when you are young. When you are old and wheezing, not so cool, but you can't get around the fact that a 16 year old that smokes is much cooler than one who does not, all other things being equal.

Sorry, X RATED kids!

starsrift
It is, Hellboy II's movie poster said in the ratings box "contains pervasive tobacco use."

/What happened to personal responsibility?

fag hag!

/my work here is done

What I find funny is that they aren't even basing this idea on their own study using local teens. It's a US study that triggered such a response. How about if they're going to police the little Limey kids, they do their OWN study and find out how much of an impact it REALLY had.

/Mother smoked for my whole life.
//didn't start smoking until I had 5 years in the ARMY.
///Quit last month.
//slashies

How about movies with kids smoking.

Bad News Bears. (The one with Walter Mathew) They were drinking beer too.
The Client.

Growing up, for me the decision to smoke or not had nothing to do with movies or television. It had everything to do with my peer group and to a lesser extent my parents.

/tried it. I'm glad I don't have that 'whatever' that makes some want to keep doing it

Bootysama: Umm, What? Unless I am mistaken (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm drunk) celebrities weren't the reason people smoked. People smoked because the health risks weren't known and because people weren't so farking uptight about "the smell" and other shiat as they are now. And those are just a couple of random reasons off the top of my drunk head.

Did I say that celebrities were directly the cause of people smoking? I don't remember saying that. I was just saying that it might have been a factor contributing to people finding it socially acceptable to do so. Also, people knew that smoking was bad for you well over 60 years ago. And it's not being "uptight" to complain about the smell of smoke.

Regardless of whether you believe smoking statistics are cooked, it's well established that it's bad for you.

Honestly, there are bigger concerns in the world than smoking. How about this, let's let Hollywood make movies, over look the bullshiat stuff like "there's smoking in that movie" or "this movie is bad for children because someone during a car chase was driving and not wearing a seat belt!", and we'll let the parents do their farking jobs, and tell their children about smoking. We can let the schools talk about smoking, but for the love of god, let's be rational here and not ban movies just on one vice that might be unpopular. If so, then there's alot of good movies out there that children won't be allowed to see because they are under 18 and the big offense is that one person is smoking.

Well no...because back when a person was allowed to smoke damn near everywhere in the whole world, every building smelled vaguely of cigarettes so you wouldn't complain about the smell so much as you'd hypothetically never notice it, because it was normal.

Vern: I've seen plenty of G, PG and PG13 movies with people drinking alcohol [and having] violence

The problem with the MPAA rating system is that lacks consistency.

Over time, the bar for any particular rating has fallen. Movies that might have scored a 'PG' rating 30 years ago now easily score 'G' ratings. Additionally, there are numerous reports that suggest that movies produced by influential people tend to get away with more.

To make matters worse, the guidelines are kept secret, as are the identities of people performing the ratings. So, we basically have to trust their judgment.


I've seen asses in PG13 movies, in Kindergarten Cop

It was not an ass, it was a tumor.

Great Janitor: Honestly, there are bigger concerns in the world than smoking. How about this, let's let Hollywood make movies, over look the bullshiat stuff like "there's smoking in that movie" or "this movie is bad for children because someone during a car chase was driving and not wearing a seat belt!", and we'll let the parents do their farking jobs, and tell their children about smoking. We can let the schools talk about smoking, but for the love of god, let's be rational here and not ban movies just on one vice that might be unpopular. If so, then there's alot of good movies out there that children won't be allowed to see because they are under 18 and the big offense is that one person is smoking.

I am shocked- SHOCKED -that you seem to think that parents should actually be required to do a little farking parenting. Responsibility is overrated and should be saved for Big Government or irrational idiots with too much time on their hands. (I'm looking at you, TRUTH.)

/Sarcasm

So if there's guns, murder, mayhem, rape, robbery, IV drug use, pills, car crashes, boobies (but no nipples), sex, dog fights, steak, spiders, vampires, zombies, George Lucas, and people petting cat's fur backward, all that's okay.....

but no smoking.

OKAY!!! :)

you forgot speeding, running red lights and alcohol use, Gyrfalcon

tehotherbilly: Suicidal Writer

I smoke and I too am obsessed with my teeth. Did quitting smoking really have that much of an impact on whiteness and overall gum health?

It helped a lot. My teeth are going to be permanently stained, but after years of whitening treatments it doesn't look bad. After quitting, my gums were puffy for awhile, and still are a little, but my dental hygenist has told me that some major problems were averted just in time by quitting my 2 pack a day habit.

log_jammin: and...isn't this already the rule when it comes to pot?

How's THAT workin out?

Well, to be fair it's still relatively normal to see someone just standing around smoking a cigarette, but no one in movies casually smokes a joint. When pot gets brought into the mix, it's a BIG DEAL and you're likely to be subjected to cries of "Yeah! Yeah, man! Is that some WEEEEEEEEED? Sweet shiat, DUUUUUUDE!" followed by a montage set to either Purple Haze or Sunshine Of Your Love. Speaking as someone who was briefly an impressionable "tween" (although it was before that godawful term came about) I'd say that this portrayal of marijuana (as a magic substance that creates sensory enhancement and feelings of contentment) is extremely glamorous. Perhaps the reason that I'm not a total burnout right now is that my parents took the time (all of ten seconds: "Pot makes you lazy, got it?") to explain why I shouldn't be doing drugs.

I don't get how some Farkers are going after the parents.

So, you're supposed to, as a responsible parent, go and watch the movie in the theatre, first by yourself, to see what's in it so that you can know if it's appropriate for your crotchfruit?
Then, go the theatre again, this time taking aforementioned snowflake along to see the movie?

That sounds awfully inconvenient. If only there was some kind of legally obligated rating system that one could depend on so that one didn't have to do that...

Anybody read this little gem?

/joe jackson for supreme leader of europe

Cue story of the comic-book character Wolverine, though he chops bad guys into giblets, being forbidden from smoking because of readership complaints. To make it much, much more dumber, Wolverine has a healing factor. Shooting a full clip of bullets into him will hurt, but in a few moments he will have healed. Cigars are -nothing- to him. Did Marvel Comics think Wolverine was a ROLE model? See above about filleting people.

starsrift: If only there was some kind of legally obligated rating system that one could depend on so that one didn't have to do that...

or maybe just a comment after the movie like "don't smoke. It'll kill ya..."