What do you think? Should a movie be rated-R if an actor/actress smokes onscreen? I'm not what you'd call a pro-smoker, but I saw Gina's post and it got me thinking. I'm not arguing for smoking on screen, because I think keeping those images away from children is a good idea. I agree that most smokers are created in youth. Most thirty-year-olds don't up and say, I think I'll start a pack-a-day habit that will ensure I won't need to worry about a 401K. But I'd say that if kids can go see Mr. and Mrs. Smith (which is PG-13) it shouldn't really matter if Mr. and Mrs. Smith are smokers. Basically, if this regulation comes to pass, the message to children would be if you want to off your spouse use a bomb, because taking 30 years to kill them with second-hand smoke is evil!
What do you think? Should a movie be rated-R if an actor/actress smokes onscreen? I'm not what you'd call a pro-smoker, but I saw Gina's post and it got me thinking. I'm not arguing for smoking on screen, because I think keeping those images away from children is a good idea. I agree that most smokers are created in youth. Most thirty-year-olds don't up and say, I think I'll start a pack-a-day habit that will ensure I won't need to worry about a 401K. But I'd say that if kids can go see Mr. and Mrs. Smith (which is PG-13) it shouldn't really matter if Mr. and Mrs. Smith are smokers. Basically, if this regulation comes to pass, the message to children would be if you want to off your spouse use a bomb, because taking 30 years to kill them with second-hand smoke is evil!
I read Gina's post and while I agree that Hollywood romantisises (sp) smoking, I'm not sure R rating a movie with nictine in it is the answer. Altho, on the other hand, PG 13 movies have language in them. What percentage of movies would make anything but R if we continue to put limitations on them? My solution, watch what your kids watch and make sure they only see what you want them to. I know, teens do what they want, but I'm a firm believer in the concept of instilling good morals, values, and decisions at a very young age so hopefully teens make the right decisions.
ReplyDeleteMaking smoking an R rating would just confirm my believe that the rating system is .. well .. er .. over-rated :-)
ReplyDeleteFrom what I have been reading, most teenagers see more varied sex action then most adults. Maybe movies with explicit sex scenes should be rated to keep out anyone OVER 18 ;-)
While I don't agree with rating R for smoking, it would be wonderful if Hollywood would get the message that characters who smoke are not role models. Not that Mr. and Mrs. Smith should be anyone's roll models of course, but when a main character smokes on screen [or in a book] they lose their hero/heroine status with me. Maybe instead of airing commercials for Nike and Coke before a movie starts, they should be showing those anti-smoking TRUTH commercials.
ReplyDeleteVegas Vacation is on TV today. There's a scene where the family is in the restaurant and hid kid says something like he wishes he could gamble, and Chevy Chase says "I don't want to hear you talking like that" and then gets up and puts a bet on black on the roulette wheel, then goes back to the restaurant.
ReplyDeleteReminds me that we're going to have an anti-smoking initiative on the ballot here in Reno and polls show most people are in favor of no-smoking in casinos. Again I don't really disagree because casino workers are just trying to make a living, and a smoke-filled environment does put them at risk. But I can't help but think there are more important laws to enact first, that aren't given as much attention as anti-smoking.
The Wife worked at a movie theater for a while and she was one of the only people there that cared about the Ratings. These are not laws, they are suggestions, anyone with money to buy a ticket can go into any movie showing.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, my friend and I went to movies almost every weekend and we'd try to sneak into the R movies. We always got caught. I guess we weren't very sneaky.
ReplyDelete