Smoking in movies will now affect ratings.

[WorthyStevens]

The MPAA is sending out a smoke signal, but there is a big butt to their message.The Motion Picture Assn. of America announced Thursday that smoking in a film will be a factor in future movie ratings, though its pronouncement raises many questions.
"In the past, illegal teen smoking has been a factor in the rating of films, alongside other parental concerns such as sex, violence and adult language," the MPAA said in a statement. "Now, all smoking will be considered, and depictions that glamorize smoking or movies that feature pervasive smoking outside of a historic or other mitigating context may receive a higher rating."
Org regularly includes a description of the reasons a film received a certain rating; that description could now add something like "includes pervasive smoking."
Child advocacy groups and health organizations have long criticized Hollywood for movies that contribute to youth smoking. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has repeatedly cited movies as a key influence on teen smoking. The Harvard School of Public Health studied the issue at the request of the MPAA and recommended in February that studios "take substantive and effective action to eliminate the depiction of smoking from films accessible to children and youths."
Parents told the MPAA that, while they noticed less smoking in movies in general, the scenes that did appear glamorized the habit, and they wanted to know about those scenes when deciding whether to let their kids see a pic, officials said.
"Clearly, smoking is increasingly an unacceptable behavior in our society," MPAA topper Dan Glickman said in a statement. "There is broad awareness of smoking as a unique public health concern due to nicotine's highly addictive nature, and no parent wants their child to take up the habit. The appropriate response of the rating system is to give more information to parents on this issue."
Glickman said that smoking will be one of "many other factors, including violence, sexual situations and language," that will be considered when deciding on a rating.
"Three questions will have particular weight for our rating board when considering smoking in a film," Glickman continued. "Is the smoking pervasive? Does the film glamorize smoking? And, is there an historic or other mitigating context?"
For example, a film like "Good Night, and Good Luck," a biopic of newsman Edward R. Murrow, would likely receive the same rating now as it did when it was released because Murrow was a smoker in an era when smoking was still prevalent, org officials said.
But it would now likely contain a "pervasive smoking" descriptor.
But would Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart movies be rerated? And will the smoking genuinely affect the rating or simply add more explanation to the MPAA description?
Some critics have called for an automatic "R" rating for any movie containing smoking. Glickman called that an "extreme proposal," saying that debate surrounding smoking in movies "has become heavily politicized, and many inaccurate statements have been made."
One of those critics -- Stan Glantz, professor or medicine at UC San Francisco and head of the advocacy group Smoke Free Movies -- said of the announcement: "The good news is that studios were forced to do something. The bad news is it's not going to make much difference. It's just a placebo."
Jim Steyer, CEO of family advocacy group Common Sense Media, called the announcement "a big step forward for the MPAA to connect the dots between onscreen behavior and the impact on kids' health."
The Directors Guild of America also supported the announcement.
In a separate letter sent Thursday to 32 state attorneys general who urged the MPAA to accept the Harvard Public School of Health's recommendation, Glickman informed them of the announcement and also promised "to actively support efforts to ensure state-funded smoking prevention and cessation campaigns are resurrected and continued."
The MPAA also announced that, along with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, it has joined Hollywood Unfiltered, a voluntary, entertainment industry-led initiative to educate and raise awareness within the biz of the public health consequences of depicting smoking in movies and television.

Jesus.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117964655.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

 

[AssMan]

Somehow I am not surprised by this. It was only a matter of time

 

[Darth Elektra]

I think it's a terrible idea.

 

[Mr. Credible]

yup... this is just another step.

next teens having sex (even without nudity) will make a movie rated 'R'... then teens driving badly... and so on and so forth.

good one, hollywood. good one.

 

[The Chairman]

I detest smoking but even I agree that this is a bit dumb.

 

[Orko Is King]

This is ******ed.

 

[Mr. Socko]

I could cur less. Won't affect whether I see the movie or not.

 

[Warhammer]

Stupid.



It's not like it's flashing a titty or something....

 

[Wolfwood]

Will this change the ratings of older movies? Or just from here on out?

 

[Cinemaman]

Very very very dumb idea

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

I don't care about it.

 

[Tempest19]

Let me get this straight- if someone smokes in Oceans 13 that would make it an R? ... article is too long to read, but if that's true- WTF???????

 

[IndianaJones]

"Oh, my kid started smoking because he watched that movie!"

Jesus ****. It's no one's fault but theirs if a parent can't govern thier ****ing child.

My dad beat the **** outta me when I deserved it, and I learned from that each time.

People don't know how to be parents anymore.

 

[Steelsheen]

it is a bit ludicrous.

 

[Drizzle]

I could cur less. Won't affect whether I see the movie or not.

Ditto.

"Oh, my kid started smoking because he watched that movie!"

Jesus ****. It's no one's fault but theirs if a parent can't govern thier ****ing child.

My dad beat the **** outta me when I deserved it, and I learned from that each time.

People don't know how to be parents anymore.

So true.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

Thats freaking dumb!

 

[SolidSnakeMGS]

People smoke in real life. Its still legal in many places. When the MPAA nazis chose to give R ratings, they are saying that the viewing of things people do in real life is something that should be restricted. In effect, they are restricting reality and realism.

I could cur less. Won't affect whether I see the movie or not.

Well, if you're the filmmaker, you'd care because that could drastically affect your BO numbers and possibly your future projects. But then that does have an effect on the audience because that could have an effect on whether or not this filmmaker gets to make another good movie because his BO numbers were low and the studios don't want to invest in another movie.

In essence, you SHOULD care.

 

[cryptic name]

this is plain stupid. f**k the mpaa

 

[Abaddon]

get the **** outta here

 

[Speedball]

I thinks it's a good, yet stupid idea.
Smoking is nasty anyway.

 

[Superman]

So by this dumb ideal 101 Dalmatians would be Rated R now because Cruella De Vil smokes all through the movie.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I can't see how they can possibly implement this in a sensical way,the issue of context would be raised in every case.

 

[jrpstarwars]

Who are these morons and what exactly is their real agenda?

 

[CrAzYMoFo]

Next, they'll be giving movies an R rating for having a cheeseburger in it.

 

[jrpstarwars]

Next, they'll be giving movies an R rating for having a cheeseburger in it.

Sadly, I think your right. We still have a few more years to enjoy clogging arteries though.