U.S. movie group slaps new restrictions on smoking
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Attention film producers: smoking may now be hazardous to your movies.
The film industry group that rates U.S. movies in terms of their suitability for children Thursday unveiled new rules affecting tobacco use in films that would stop children from seeing movies that glorified lighting up on-screen.
The Motion Picture Association of America, or MPAA, said that in the past, illegal teen smoking has been just one factor in rating films, alongside other parental concerns such as sex, violence and adult language.
But now smoking itself will be considered as a factor and depictions that glamorize smoking, or movies that feature pervasive smoking, may receive ratings that do not allow children into theaters to see them.
The only exception to that rule are films where the smoking is historically important like "Good Night, and Good Luck," which depicted the life of chain-smoking journalist Edward R. Murrow. The film was rated PG, meaning that parents could take older children to see it. Under the new rules, that rating would have remained the same, an MPAA official said.
The MPAA classifies movies suitable for all children as "G," whereas an "R" rating restricts audiences to people 17 years or older, among its ratings.
The industry group has long been under pressure from health groups to ban children from seeing characters light up in movies, a long-lived screen tradition, and the MPAA's decision fell short of that goal.
MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said in a statement, "The rating board ... will now consider smoking as a factor, among many other factors, including violence, sexual situations and language, in the rating of films.
"Clearly, smoking is increasingly an unacceptable behavior in our society. There is broad awareness of smoking as a unique public health concern due to nicotine's highly addictive nature, and no parent wants their child to take up the habit. The appropriate response of the rating system is to give more information to parents on this issue."
Glickman said while some people have called for a 'mandatory R' rating on all films containing any smoking, the MPAA does not believe such a step would further its goal of getting more information to parents on this issue.
The MPAA said films whose rating are affected by tobacco use will now include phrases such as "glamorized smoking" or "pervasive smoking" in their description.
The new ratings standard won support from the American Cancer Society whose chief executive officer John Seffrin said, it was an important initial step by the MPAA. But he added that ultimate goal to eliminate tobacco use in movies marketed to children and youth.
But Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said he was "deeply disappointed," saying that films with smoking in them should be rated R.
