Should Films With Smoking Be Rated R?
SodaHead News
2012/07/15 19:37:35
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Smoking cigarettes is not good for you. It is safe to say many people realize that whether they smoke or not. In states such as New York, it has become harder for people to smoke in public places due to various restrictions. And now, the authors of a study that will appear in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics want to extend restrictions against smoking to the world of cinema.
According to the study, children who watch famous actors smoke in films are significantly more likely to try cigarettes down the road. As such, the suggestion bounced around was that films with cigarette smoking should be rated R. (Currently most are PG-13.) The authors of the study predict that making this change would reduce the proportion of children under 17 who try cigarettes by 18%.
"The movie industry [should] treat smoking like it treats profanity and sex and violence," said the study’s lead author Dr. James D. Sargent, a cancer-prevention specialist and professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School. "If saying the 'F' word twice gets you an R rating, certainly something as important as smoking should get you an R rating."
Tobacco can lead to health problems, as can the other chemicals found in cigarettes. If you smoke, especially for a long time, you are at great risk for emphysema, lung cancer, among other terrible illnesses. That being said, smoking cigarettes and smoking in general, is a personal choice people make themselves. Millions of Americans choose not to smoke. Millions of others do smoke for reasons specific to them. Whether you think smoking is good or bad, people are still going to make their own personal choices on the matter and there's nothing that can change that--even film ratings.
What do you think SodaHeads? Should films with smoking be rated R?
According to the study, children who watch famous actors smoke in films are significantly more likely to try cigarettes down the road. As such, the suggestion bounced around was that films with cigarette smoking should be rated R. (Currently most are PG-13.) The authors of the study predict that making this change would reduce the proportion of children under 17 who try cigarettes by 18%.
"The movie industry [should] treat smoking like it treats profanity and sex and violence," said the study’s lead author Dr. James D. Sargent, a cancer-prevention specialist and professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School. "If saying the 'F' word twice gets you an R rating, certainly something as important as smoking should get you an R rating."
Tobacco can lead to health problems, as can the other chemicals found in cigarettes. If you smoke, especially for a long time, you are at great risk for emphysema, lung cancer, among other terrible illnesses. That being said, smoking cigarettes and smoking in general, is a personal choice people make themselves. Millions of Americans choose not to smoke. Millions of others do smoke for reasons specific to them. Whether you think smoking is good or bad, people are still going to make their own personal choices on the matter and there's nothing that can change that--even film ratings.
What do you think SodaHeads? Should films with smoking be rated R?
Read More: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/10/health/smoking-trigg...
Sheltering our society like this.. we're gonna have to wear helmets when leaving the house and wear condoms when we jerk off.
I don't know why I even bother to respond when there are so many threats to our kids like WW3..
Hollywood is generally said to be exceedingly liberal, left, Democratic, etc. But I'm pretty certain that film producers, directors & writers are 100% against this idea. It would only serve to make their job(s) incredibly difficult & lower their ability to make money from their films.
I'm sure there are loads of people on "the left" who support this idea.
But, at the same time, I'm pretty sure there are loads of Neoconservatives who believe that this kind of regulation of Hollywood is just the "right" thing to do, in the name our children.
I would suggest not throwing darts at "the left" or "the right" in this kind of situation & simply take it for what it is... stupid. There are loads of stupid people on both "sides" trying to control the general population. What we need to do is unify, not divide. Stopping such ridiculous ideas from happening without touting political "sides" is a more constructive way of handling it... because in America today, the two "parties" are dividing our people while the conduct bipartisan votes to remove our liberties.
I would suggest simply stopping these actions & not labeling those trying to enact them as coming from one "side" or another. Reality is, they likely come from both "sides."
Not sure if people can use cocaine in a PG-13 movie.
What about nuts? At least 2,000 people per year are hospitalized from reactions to nuts & loads of them die.
What about driving/riding in cars?
Loads of kids die every year from alcohol poisoning because they haven't learned how to drink responsibly because of the legal age of alcohol use. Should we rate films that depict drinking alcohol use as R? (I would argue that it would cause even more kids would die every year from alcohol poisoning.)
Why don't we just make fantasy, Utopia films for everyone under 17? Nothing bad, nothing scary, nothing dangerous should ever be depicted. There will be no bad guys. There will be no illness or death. There will be no dark colors. Every single thing will be light & pleasant. I'm sure that kids will appreciate all of our efforts to protect them from the often unpleasant, often dangerous, often scary, often ugly reality that life on Earth is.
After all, they're just stupid kids, right? They won't know any better, right?
But hey, cigarettes are legal !!!
But then again, so is sex.
And so is swearing (most of the time).
And even some violence is legal (but mostly not).