'œWould Casablanca have been rated XXX?' asked Frank Ahrens in The Washington Post. Under a revision of the film ratings system announced last week, the Motion Picture Association of America will now consider depictions of smoking in determining the ratings of new films, along with sex, violence, and adult language. If a movie 'œglamorizes smoking,' in the estimation of the film board, a film that otherwise might have been rated PG-13 will be rated R, rendering it off-limits to unaccompanied kids under 17. The word 'œsmoking' will also be included in film advisories, in the same way that 'œnudity' and 'œsexual situations' now are. For Hollywood, where in the Humphrey Bogart era a 'œleading man was not a gentleman unless he lit a lady's cigarette,' this marks a sea change. Even to this day, some 50 percent of movies include characters lighting up and languidly puffing away.
That's why the new ratings system was overdue, said the Orlando Sentinel in an editorial. Smoking in films has long been associated with sophistication and sexiness, and studies show that youngsters are indeed influenced by what they see on the big screen. What impressionable kids don't see, of course, are the same characters 'œ30 years older, gasping for breath or dying from lung cancer.' Perhaps now, filmmakers will think twice before putting a cigarette in a star's hand. At the very least, said the Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News, parents will be able to find out whether a movie is filled with role models waving lit cigarettes. The more parents know about a film, the better.
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