Smoking in movies could lead to different ratings...
 

Sometimes I wonder about the MPAA...
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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.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=13&cs=1


I guess we'll soon see updated versions of Humphrey Bogart movies where he whips out a carrot stick....

a little overboard