No smoking, please
According to various press reports in the USA, the depiction of smokers is becoming a major factor in the classification of films. So whether a film is suitable for young people or not will soon depend not only on how violent or erotic a film is, but also on how smokers are depicted.
According to various press reports in the USA, the depiction of smokers is becoming a major factor in the classification of films. So whether a film is suitable for young people or not will soon depend not only on how violent or erotic a film is, but also on how smokers are depicted.
Movies that glorify smoking will in the future be restricted in America to people older than 17. This does not go as far as many anti-smoking organizations wanted. These called for a general ban on smoking in movies accessible to those under 17. Previously, the rule was that only teenagers smoking should be hidden from children's eyes. Under the new rule, meanwhile, the American Film Association does not guarantee that smoking in movies will be rated as strictly as sex, violence or drug use. Joan Graves, chairman of the rating authority, allows for discretion: If, for example, a character smokes in a historically accurate manner, such as Edward Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck," that is still acceptable. But if Scarlett Johansson's Black Dahlia seductively sucks on her cigarette, that's not good for younger viewers. As an example of how smoking can even be made cinematically unappetizing, an anti-smoking group pointed to Emma Thomposon, who in "Stranger than Fiction" portrayed something like a human ashtray, thus depriving her nicotine addiction of any glamour.
Movies that glorify smoking will in the future be restricted in America to people older than 17. This does not go as far as many anti-smoking organizations wanted. These called for a general ban on smoking in movies accessible to those under 17. Previously, the rule was that only teenagers smoking should be hidden from children's eyes. Under the new rule, meanwhile, the American Film Association does not guarantee that smoking in movies will be rated as strictly as sex, violence or drug use. Joan Graves, chairman of the rating authority, allows for discretion: If, for example, a character smokes in a historically accurate manner, such as Edward Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck," that is still acceptable. But if Scarlett Johansson's Black Dahlia seductively sucks on her cigarette, that's not good for younger viewers. As an example of how smoking can even be made cinematically unappetizing, an anti-smoking group pointed to Emma Thomposon, who in "Stranger than Fiction" portrayed something like a human ashtray, thus depriving her nicotine addiction of any glamour.
