MPAA's Latest Smoke Signal

The MPAA recently asked the Harvard School of Public Health for guidance about its policy on cinematic smoking and now the association has made a decision, announcing today that its going to consider how all tobacco use is portrayed when assigning a rating to a movie:

"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," MPAA said in a statement. "Now, all smoking will be considered and depictions that glamorize smoking or movies that feature pervasive smoking outside of an historic or other mitigating context may receive a higher rating."

The dean of Harvard School of Public Health had suggested that Hollywood take all smoking out of any movie not rated R, but that kind of policy could seriously impact ticket sales and create quite a headache for the studios. This statement seems to allow for plenty of wiggle room, which may frustrate the child advocacy and health organization groups that have been lobbying for change. According to Time , cigarettes are more common onscreen today than any other time since midcentury: 75% of all Hollywood films--including 36% of those rated G or PG--show tobacco use.

Smoking in movies to affect ratings [Variety]