The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), the folks responsible for deciding if a movie a "PG" or "PG-13" have decided that they will include . . . smoking in their decisions to "rate" a movie.
The MPAA said Thursday that its rating board will consider film depictions of smoking among the criteria for assigning movie ratings.
Luckily the MPAA didn't go nuts and take the advice of some:
Anti-tobacco activists have been pressing for an automatic R rating for films with smoking scenes, but MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman rejected the proposal for a more nuanced approach.
So smoking will be like, violence or bad language.
Glickman described the move as an extension of the MPAA's practice of factoring underage smoking into the rating of films. The ratings board will ask three questions, he said:
Is the smoking pervasive?
Does the film glamorize smoking?
Is there a historic or other mitigating context?Also, when a film's rating is affected by the depiction of smoking, the rating will include such phrases as "glamorized smoking" or "pervasive smoking."
Some don't think this goes far enough. There's more efforts to censor smoking from movies and T.V. and use film for other forms of social engineering [links added]:
American Legacy Foundation said the new MPAA ratings policy "falls short and fails to implement the meaningful recommendations set forth by numerous organizations." Washington-based ALF states its mission as being "dedicated to a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit."
Hollywood has been under increasing pressure to take steps to ease the purported effect of entertainment content in several areas, from smoking to child obesity. Next week on Capitol Hill, the Senate Commerce Committee begins its examination of the effect violent content has on children.
Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is expected to introduce legislation giving the FCC the power to regulate such content -- much as it does indecent content on television. In April, the FCC approved a report on TV violence that asked lawmakers for the requisite enforcement powers.
A Senate-FCC industry task force has been convened to identify ways of forcing content producers to encourage children to eat healthy foods.
Read that last sentence again: "force content producers to encourage children to eat healthy foods." Maybe the reporter chose his word poorly but the government is looking to force the people who make entertainment to encourage children to eat healthy foods? Force?
It's a good thing MPAA ratings aren't retroactive (yet) or Humphrey Bogart would be cited for "pervasive smoking." Or what about that scene in The Fellowship of the Ring where Bilbo and Gandalf are blowing smoke rings (and smoke ships)? Would that scene have moved the rating from a PG-13 to an R? "Glamorizes smoking." Well, there is an historical context: smoking was much more common in Middle Earth in those days, probably the influence of Saron.
The MPAA move is just dumb. The government action is . . . frightening. Just like at the beginning of the Clinton Administration, suddenly controlling content to protect the children is all the rage.
What's next? "Glamorizes overeating" on the possible "The Hobbit" movie? And Jay Rockefeller makes sure Jack Bauer talks nice to terrorists?
Meanwhile, near Fort Dix . . .
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