Where There's Smoke, There's Ire

Should all movies that feature people smoking receive an R-rating? The MPAA is currently wrestling with that seemingly draconian question and asked the Harvard School of Public Health for guidance, explains Kim Masters in Slate. Let's just say that Harvard's response took a few folks in Hollywood off guard:

In recommendations presented to the industry last month and made public this week, Harvard said the studios should eliminate smoking altogether from films "accessible to children and youth." Harvard didn't mention specific ratings, but the dean of the school offers this statement to us: "We're suggesting that they take smoking out of youth accessible films: G, PG and PG-13, which make up 85% of all movies." (From where we sit, Harvard could just as well throw in the R movies because so many parents bring their kids to them as if they were Sunday-school picnics.)

How the MPAA might handle these recommendations and what kind of policy could be put into place to enforce them is still unknown, although the article suggests that the MPAA is pressing the studios to take a position. But the execs have questions:

What if there's a Marlboro billboard in the background during a scene on the street? If a film is shooting in Europe, does that mean that no one in a cafe can be seen with a Gaulois? What if the movie is a period piece? What if a big-deal director wants a character to smoke and gets pissy if he doesn't get his way? Still, as one executive put it, "We either have to come up with a policy or a policy is going to be shoved down our throats."

Anyone who has felt the urge to light up because they've seen their favorite actor do it understands the connection between movies and smoking. And there's no mystery left about the dangers of cigarettes (In fact, the recent Lancet study says that tobacco is more dangerous than illegal drugs such as pot or ecstasy). Kids obviously need to understand the harmful effects of smoking. And Hollywood needs to understand its impact on prevention. But the reality is that cigarettes are still legal. So where does the industry draw the line? I would suggest that the MPAA proceed with caution or suffer unintended consequences. What's next, R-ratings for all movies that show adults having a glass of wine or a beer? How about eating trans fats? Talk about a slippery slope.

Also interesting to note in Masters' piece is the mention of a soon-to-be-released Federal Trade Commission report about Hollywood selling violence in a manner that reaches children, and the connection to MPAA chief Dan Glickman's recent crack down on the grisly outdoor campaings for the upcoming horror film Captivity.

UPDATE: Time has followed up on this story and cites some startling statistics about Hollywood and smoking:

Today cigarettes are more common onscreen than any other time since midcentury: 75% of all Hollywood films--including 36% of those rated G or PG--show tobacco use, according to a 2006 survey by University of California, San Francisco.