Smoking in movies still a problem, health groups say

Huh..

Well maybe they should lobby for Hollywood to eliminate, shooting, slashing, stabbing, rape, sex, underage and/or excessive drinking, and stealing from the movies as well, and then those problems will be eliminated too!


Morons.

Pffff, just beep the word and tape the cig, like they beep swearwords and tape nipples and buttcracks. No biggie

You forgot drug-use.

Or we could break the fingers of teens who smoke

"we COULD fix the education system, or hold parents responsible..buuuuuuuut it would be easier and more fun to blame movies.."

No doubt eh?

Cigarettes are bad for your health and all those other things are just........................................

You forgot drug-use.
... and gambling, cheating, car crashes, idiots, ugly and/or fat people and homosexuality.

Oh wait... they can keep homosexuality, especially when it's 2 hot women.

You forgot drug-use.
... and gambling, cheating, car crashes, idiots, ugly and/or fat people and homosexuality.

Oh wait... they can keep homosexuality, especially when it's 2 hot women.
My bad.

Add 'em the list.

You're totally missing the point.

Most of the items you mention are already factored into movie ratings. For example, any movie with more than one instance of the word "Fuck" does not qualify for PG-13. That's a big reason why movies by directors like Judd Apatow (Superbad, Knocked Up, etc) don't make as much, because they get rated R and most kids can't seem them until they go to DVD (or download a cam version of the net).

Ratings have been watered down a lot in the past 20 years, but there were times that teenagers/kids couldn't get into movies that had tits and ass, or lots of swearing, sexual content (rape/sex) and excessive violence.

They aren't saying that changing a movie's ratings will totally eliminate behaviour what they are saying is that kids shouldn't be seeing people smoking, just like they shouldn't be seeing rapes and drug use and excessive violence.

I don't see the difference between this and eliminating cigarette advertising or hiding cigarettes behind curtains. The point here is that they're lobbying to take something that is harmful and prevent kids from seeing it, just like they do with porn, booze and other legal, potentially harmful substances.

No, I didn't miss the point at all. I do understand what you're saying, but the bottom line (with teens) is, it isn't seeing the ads or clips in movies that make kids smoke, it's peer pressure.

If these advocates really want to crack down on teen smoking, lobby to have the retailers nailed to the wall for selling to them. In most provinces (that I know of) it's illegal to sell to anyone under 18 (or 19 in some), so how are they getting them in the first place? Go after the retailers or whoever's bootlegging for them. That's the real problem.

No, I didn't miss the point at all. I do understand what you're saying, but the bottom line (with teens) is, it isn't seeing the ads or clips in movies that make kids smoke, it's peer pressure.

If these advocates really want to crack down on teen smoking, lobby to have the retailers nailed to the wall for selling to them. In most provinces (that I know of) it's illegal to sell to anyone under 18 (or 19 in some), so how are they getting them in the first place? Go after the retailers or whoever's bootlegging for them. That's the real problem.

If you think that ending cigarette advertising and hiding cigarette power walls (like here in Alberta) didn't have an effect on reducing smoking, you're wrong. Yes, they were small changes, but they still had an effect, just like film ratings could. It's something that would take a long time, but I think it's something that we should aim for.

Peer pressure is a major factor in teens smoking, but it's not the only one, just like smoking in movies isn't the only one. This is something parents need to deal with too (not just rely on society), as children of smokers are far more likely to smoke (because they view their parents smoking habit as acceptance of their own smoking). That's where this group is coming from.

To me, this is pretty much the same as porn. It is something that society (like cigarette smoking, drinking, etc) has deemed inappropriate for children/teens. Now, because of its prevalence, determined children and teens have always found a way to see it (even before the internet), but that doesn't mean society shouldn't try and limit their exposure to it.

I wholeheartedly agree with going after stores/bootleggers (which Health Canada does all the time), but there's more to it than just physical access to cigarettes. There's also the subliminal message in movies that smoking is okay. When I was kid, the majority of Canadians smoked (55-60% I think) and people smoked everywhere - movie theatres, airplanes, hospitals, you name it. Nowadays, because of small efforts here and there - banning cigarette advertising, creating no-smoking areas in restaurants, etc, somewhere around 1/3 of Canadians still smoke. That's a huge improvement I say. And it was all because of a small step here and small step there. I don't think smoking will ever be totally eliminated (the government makes too much in taxes from it), but by taking these small steps, we can further reduce its effects on society.

All these guys are saying, is if you want to watch Bruce Willis kicking ass and smoking (like in Die Hard), then make this another factor in ratings, just like swearing, nudity, and violence. I'm fine with that.

The less kids see people smoking, the less they will think it's okay.