Fire Me Boy!
05-12-2007, 02:33 PM
http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=291fafdb-1382-45e0-8e12-b8fd0d725f9f
Soon lighting up on screen could bring an "R" rating.
The Motion Picture Association of America said it will consider smoking along with sex and violence in determining movie ratings.
"It means if you otherwise would be a PG-13, and you show smoking in a glamorous way, this would bump you up to an R," said film critic Michael Medved.
Anti-smoking groups, the American Medical Association, and even cigarette maker Phillip Morris have urged the industry to show less smoking based on research that suggests teens and preteens are highly influenced by what they see.
"Kids this age are just getting their impressions of what everybody else does, what's expected of them, what's the norm," said the Kaiser Family Foundation's Vicky Rideout. "So I think that the images they see in the media play a part in that."
It wasn't a big issue years ago when smoking was more prevalent in society.
The industry reports movie makers have cut smoking scenes by almost 10 percent in the last two years.
The question: What impact might this new ratings change have at the box office?
"If you take a PG-13 movie, say, up to an R movie, in theory you're cutting away a large slice of the potential audience," said Washington Post financial reporter Frank Ahrens.
Industry experts say that could force a movie's producers to kick the habit well before the public ever sees it.
The American Cancer Society issued a statement calling the industry's move an important first step, but said it will continue to monitor and push for a full ban on smoking scenes in movies marketed to children.
Soon lighting up on screen could bring an "R" rating.
The Motion Picture Association of America said it will consider smoking along with sex and violence in determining movie ratings.
"It means if you otherwise would be a PG-13, and you show smoking in a glamorous way, this would bump you up to an R," said film critic Michael Medved.
Anti-smoking groups, the American Medical Association, and even cigarette maker Phillip Morris have urged the industry to show less smoking based on research that suggests teens and preteens are highly influenced by what they see.
"Kids this age are just getting their impressions of what everybody else does, what's expected of them, what's the norm," said the Kaiser Family Foundation's Vicky Rideout. "So I think that the images they see in the media play a part in that."
It wasn't a big issue years ago when smoking was more prevalent in society.
The industry reports movie makers have cut smoking scenes by almost 10 percent in the last two years.
The question: What impact might this new ratings change have at the box office?
"If you take a PG-13 movie, say, up to an R movie, in theory you're cutting away a large slice of the potential audience," said Washington Post financial reporter Frank Ahrens.
Industry experts say that could force a movie's producers to kick the habit well before the public ever sees it.
The American Cancer Society issued a statement calling the industry's move an important first step, but said it will continue to monitor and push for a full ban on smoking scenes in movies marketed to children.