Smoking in films

[cuddleworthy]

Am I the only one ticked with the MPAA/political stance on this issue? Most of the movies I saw as a kid involved some kind of smoking or drinking. Hell, most of the classics include it. It never made me pick up the habit, because I know it's bad for your health. However, it doesn't make me look down or tell others that it's harmful for them. That's their own business. Not mine. This is just censorship, a decade away in the making. I believe that the MPAA should include some thematic elements in the ratings in regards to minors for parents to know, but this is just pushing the envelope. Especially how they're pushing their own agenda. Let movies be.

An example of genius at work (http://www.scenesmoking.org/docs/sample_mpaa_letter.pdf)

[Tweek]

Ha. That's bullcrap.

I'm not a smoker (asthma) but that's such malarkey.

From the letter:

By your own design, the ratings system was set up as a tool for parents to make informed viewing decisions for their children. We only ask that parents be given ALL the information they need.

That would imply a good number of parents actually paid attention to ratings. We all have stories of little kids being at screenings of violent or sex-heavy R-rated flicks.

Hmm... Instead of changing ratings, why not encourage more people visiting sites that describe anything that might be considered offensive! This is a good one, though it reaches quite a bit.

Here's one from kids-in-mind.com:

Kids In Mind: Kung-Fu Panda (http://www.kids-in-mind.com/k/kungfupanda.htm)

[Shinigami]

The most important issue here for me is whether this would hurt films in any way. Which I don't feel it would. A lot of people think lacking cigarettes or cigars or tobacco whatever sometimes affects realism. Smoking is cool. But people say the same thing about swearing in movies, which I've never agreed with either.
Still, that "sample letter" is pushing the topic too much. People rarely smoke in mainstream movies now as it is (at least from this layman's perspective). What are these "figures" they talk about in regards to movies including tobacco? Real men smoke. I can barely remember the last movie I saw where people smoked. Iron Man, maybe? Tony Stark certainly drank a lot, and whether he smoked or not was so inconsequential that I can't remember it, which should make the entire thing a non-issue. Nothing is sexier than a woman with a ciagerette between her fingers.
Personally, I can't think of many cigarettes that made their smooth, manly appearance in movies lately. Especially PG and below. Then again, I haven't seen many kids films. Have any of you parents out there even seen cigarettes smoked in your children's films by anything other than snarling badguys? Mm-mm, the flavor goes down good, like a cigarette should. I could be wrong, but I don't think this is some kind of epidemic.
This is a case of silly censorship. I agree with the first poster.

[Tweek]

Was that your attempt at "subliminal" messages?:D


I don't think about it affecting a movie's quality... I just find it ridiculous that there's a campaign to change ratings that parents don't always pay attention to.

[ERIN_LoJ]

God people just get too stupid over the smoking thing. Yes, it kills, yes it's sad, but let's not ban it from films and think that solves the problem, eh?

[Brendan M.]

Well there's a lot of characters you can tell from the getco in a movie that are definetly smokers. Like a number of characters in The Departed. If it adds to the character and the realism, I don't see the what the big deal is. I don't smoke myself but I'm always around a ton of people who do.

[The Postmaster General]

I generally don't notice smoking in movies. It seems that Bee Movie was rated PG because of a scene of smoking, and I can't recall at all what they are referring to.

I'm not sure it necessarily adds realism. Like, in Pulp Fiction, I'm not like, "Okay, this briefcase is glowing, but everyone is smoking so that grounds it in reality."

Realism would be a scene of them being asked to go outside to smoke, or a discussion about smoking, which comes up constantly amongst smokers. Scenes like that would justify harder ratings where smoking is concerned, but it seems that the MPAA is attacking smoking as it appears in an environment. It's a very obvious "no smoking" policy that while I can't totally disagree with, in no way respect.

[echo_bravo]

I havent seen the latest James Bond film but did I hear it right when they said James Bond is a non-smoker in Casino Royale????

Say it aint so.:(


On another note, the film that I saw that had easily the most cigs and drinking in it has to be State of Grace. Seriously, EVERY single scene with Sean Penn and Gary Oldman in it...they have a cigarette hanging out of their mouth and a glass of whiskey in their other hand. Funny shit.

[aerocrystallake]

I havent seen the latest James Bond film but did I hear it right when they said James Bond is a non-smoker in Casino Royale????

Say it aint so.:(


On another note, the film that I saw that had easily the most cigs and drinking in it has to be State of Grace. Seriously, EVERY single scene with Sean Penn and Gary Oldman in it...they have a cigarette hanging out of their mouth and a glass of whiskey in their other hand. Funny shit.

I've heard a lot of people complain about this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did Brosnan's Bond ever do much, if any, smoking. I might recall a scene in Goldeneye or Die Another Day where he had a cigar, but I can't recall the last time Bond had a cigarette. Keep in mind this is just what I remember, not positive.

[PreySlayDisplay]

I have noticed the "THIS FILM CONTAINS DEPICTIONS OF TOBACCO USE" banner at the end of a few trailers lately. Are they serious? It's almost as bad as having "Slime" as one of the reasons for why AvP is rated PG-13.

[Badbird]

But shooting people is still okay, right?

[The Postmaster General]

But shooting people is still okay, right?


There isn't exactly an abundance of G-rated films where people get shot. :confused:

[Homyrrh]

Who's seen 'Oliver Twist'? The guy being hanged and shot at was one of the more shocking moments in ancient G-rated films...

[bourahioro]

Honestly, people really need to take responsibility for their actions; If you aren't a smoker and you're above the age of majority and you see someone smoking on film, do you NEED to go get cigarettes? Likely not. If you take your kids to the movies, or let them watch TV and someone's smoking in the film or tv show, are they gonna start smoking? Not if the parents teach their kids that smoking is unhealthy and fill them in on the risks smoking carries.

I don't for one second think that smoking in film or tv should be abolished, if it was how the story were written, that's how it should be done. These anti-smoking leagues, or whatever you wanna call them need to give their fucking heads a shake, and the sheep that follow them are worse than the sheep who go to the 7/11 and pick up a pack of cigarettes for the first time, after seeing Tyler Durden smoking a cigarette in Fight Club...or whatever movie it is that's gonna make them "nic-fit' (even though they've never smoked in their life).

[Badbird]

There isn't exactly an abundance of G-rated films where people get shot. :confused:

Planet of the Apes is rated g(!), and Heston gets shot in the neck.

I'm talking about how they want to make smoking an automatic R, yet you can kill as many people as you want in PG-13 movies, so long as there's no blood.

How can a group take a moral stand on one thing, but not the other?

That's my problem.

[Topweasel]

Planet of the Apes is rated g(!), and Heston gets shot in the neck.

I'm talking about how they want to make smoking an automatic R, yet you can kill as many people as you want in PG-13 movies, so long as there's no blood.

How can a group take a moral stand on one thing, but not the other?

That's my problem.
But that's not even a Moral thing. Is smoking wrong? Does smoking make the smoker morally bankrupt? I mean I know smoking is unhealthy and can lead you an earlier death than not smoking, but Wendy's is unhealthy to. Does a movie where the people stop by Burger King automatically get an R-rating?

This anti-smoking crusade fought across the world is really pissing me off, and honestly is probably setting the ground work for later bans on alcohol. I mean I have never seen such a passion of hatred that smoking has created before. All this trouble for something that besides the danger to the smoker is really nothing more then smelly.

[jdparker]

I'm pretty much against censorship in all its forms. However I'd like to share a story with you about smoking in movies:

I'll have a cigarette from time to time, like - 5 to 7 a year, so I wouldn't consider myself a smoker by any means. My roommate, on the other hand, is a smoker and he smokes in the house. We're always watching movies - and I noticed that during Blood Diamond he lit a cigarette directly after Dicaprio did. Then about an hour later the same thing happened.

What does this mean? I mean besides being (yet another) testament to Dicaprio's acting skills. Well I imagine that it could be very difficult for people trying to QUIT smoking when they are faced with images of smoking in movies.

Like I said though - Censorship sucks. I think people need to understand rather than ban.

[hasselbrad]

Dan Glickman
President Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
1600 Eye Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

Dear Mr. Glickman,

I do not smoke. Never have, never will. I hate the smell of cigarettes and it really pisses me off to see someone flick a cigarette butt out of a moving car.

However, what really pisses me off is the knee-jerk, lets just ban images of everything that might be harmful so we don't actually have to do any parenting. People who think their kids are going to start smoking just because they see someone smoking in a movie are people who need to take a long, hard look in the fucking mirror. If you've raised a kid who's that weak minded, the problem isn't the fucking movies or their rating system... the problem is you!

Please tell these people to quietly fuck the hell off.

Yours truly,


Bradley Dial
Card Carrying Member
Adults With Common Sense

[g1ng3rsnap9ed]

I think that smoking in film does NOT make a child want to smoke depending on how it is depicted.Especially when cigarette-smoking is part of a characterization,I think if smoking is portrayed as "kewl" in the film then there may be a problem if it is rated G.However I have seen many films involving smoking and have never lit up once in my life.

[axel2k8]

After reading the IMDB boards, people noticed in the movie Hitman that the Dougray Scott character keeps putting a cigarette in his mouth throughout the movie but never smoking it (he does crumple it up and throw tobacco on a baddie while planting a bug). Said baddie is the only one to actually light one up in the movie. I guess the good guys aren't allowed to smoke?

[Dragula]

Whats next..the MPAA banning the word "hell" from trailers?

[Elgyn]

I agree there should be more smoking in movies.

[Tony_Montana]

Planet of the Apes is rated g(!), and Heston gets shot in the neck.


Kid's movies were bloodier, sexier and more foul-mouthed back then. PG Raiders of the Lost Ark, fuckin Nazi barbecue party at the end, people shot in the head, blood squibs, if that was made now with the equivalent SFX would get a straight up R (or 15 in the UK).


As for smoking in movies, last time I saw a lead character smoke... Blood Diamond?

[razgriz21]

I agree there should be more smoking in movies.

I'm not a smoker but I agree with that.

[john_rambo]

The Rating that shocked me was Prince Caspian, there was a huge body count in this and even a beheading and it was PG, I wonder if there was smoking if THAT would have pushed it over the limit.

[therealjohng]

Cigarettes killed my father and raped my mother.

[Cosimo]

smoking crack, heroin and spliffs are fine just fine BUT actors smoking cigarettes in film disgust me!

when i quit i started preaching, me jerk!

[eljefe15]

There isn't exactly an abundance of G-rated films where people get shot. :confused:

No, but there should be. I'd certainly watch more of them.

Children are being protected way too much in our society. Their lives are sanitized so much that when they grow up they're weak, helpless little people. I know I'm making a blanket statement here because I realize that not all young people are the same and quite a few of them have had really tragic lives. However, my statement is more about us as adults and parents than about the kids themselves. Instead of giving them the tools and information to deal with difficult choices and situations in their lives we try to do away with all the things that could be harmful for them. We won't be able to protect them for very long. They'll get to a point where we can't do anything for them and their on their own. By then it's too late.

[chasingbanky]

Less smokers in films directly coincides with less public places to smoke.

[mutant_gorilla]

Kid's movies were bloodier, sexier and more foul-mouthed back then. PG Raiders of the Lost Ark, fuckin Nazi barbecue party at the end, people shot in the head, blood squibs, if that was made now with the equivalent SFX would get a straight up R (or 15 in the UK).

Raiders was PG, not because it was a bloody kids film. There was no rating in between PG and R yet.

[Tony_Montana]

I know, but even considering, when was the last time you saw a PG-13 with exploding heads, blood squibs, melting faces and brutal fistfights with fat Nazi's ending with them getting shredded by airplane propellers? The unrated cut of Die Hard 4 is less bloodthirsty!

[Raimo69]

It is kinda contradicting what they are doing. They rather characters getting killed in movies and raped but they do not want people smoking. It is pretty funny how they think this works for anything.