Sunday, April 08, 2007

Hey, Buddy...Got A Light?

It's Sunday...time for a squib. So now smoking not only causes cancer...it might also cause the next movie you see to be rated R.

Anti-smoking groups are pushing the Motion Picture Association of America for all movies that feature smoking to be slapped with an R rating.

I'm all for trying to keep today's young people away from taking up the nasty habit, and steps like raising the cigarette tax are fine and swell with me. But to treat smoking in the movies the same way you treat blood and gore and f-bombs and bare breasteses?

That just made me stare at my screen with a rather puzzled expression.

Next up...R ratings to all movies that feature inattentive driving, or skipping school.


"We know [smoking tobacco] is not
good for kids, but a lot of other things
aren't good. Drinking's not good.
Some would say milk's not good."
—Bob Dole

4 comments:

  1. a : a short humorous or satiric writing or speech b : a short news item; especially : FILLER

    I still say it sounds like an extraneous character from Spongebob Squarepants.

    You create all this from a dial-up connection? What patience you have. ; )

    -V

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  2. I was equally perplexed by this weird new stance from the increasingly ineffectual MPAA. The problem with this is that they'll have to outright ban movies with Humphry Bogart. Or perhaps they'll just digitally remove the coffin nails. Next time you see CASABLANCA on TNT or AMC, you'll scratch your head and wonder why Rick has such a passion for lollipops.

    I think what we're witnessing is the last gasps from a dying organization. Check out the awesome documentary THIS FILM HAS NOT BEEN RATED for an honest look at the idiocy of the American rating system.

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  3. It can't happen. It won't happen. It's just too fucking ridiculous to happen.

    Then again, I wwouldn't put anything past this administration. Somehow they turned Janet Jackson's nipple into an out and out terrorist attack on the football fans of the world.

    I probably despise smoking more than anyone on the planet - or at least in my town. But garbage like this makes me want to toke up and get filmed.

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  4. Simply put, banning smoking from movies will not influence one's decision to smoke or not smoke. JMHO.

    By the way, I posted a new one over at Desert Island that you may find interesting.

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