ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York health officials don't want kids to imitate
celebrities who smoke in movies, and they're spending $800,000 trying to change
the way movies are rated when actors light up.
With full page ads Tuesday in the New York Times and the Wall Street
Journal, the state Health Department is encouraging the movie industry to
consider smoking -- along with nudity and violence -- when applying ratings.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines thinks cigarettes merit an 'R'
rating, restricting children under 18.
Years ago, stars like James Dean, Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant puffed
away, making the cigarette habit look cool, but the film industry has been under
pressure in recent years to cut down on glamorizing the addiction.
Daines wrote to the chief executives of six major motion picture studios
earlier this month, including The Disney Company, News Corp., SONY Corp., Time
Warner Inc., General Electric, and Viacom. He also wrote to the president of the
Motion Picture Association of America, asking the group to reduce children's
exposure to smoking on-screen.
The Health Department's new campaign calls for certifying in closing credits
that people involved with a film weren't paid to promote tobacco products.
Daines also wants anti-smoking ads to run before every film that shows tobacco
use. And the campaign encourages the film industry to stop naming and
prominently showing tobacco brands. In movies about historical figures who
smoked, the 'R' rating could be suspended, Daines said.
A 2003 study published in the journal Lancet followed the movie-watching
habits of thousands of children and teenagers who never smoked. Between 13 and
26 months after the initial contact, the study found that 17 percent of those
who had the highest exposure to movies depicting tobacco use had started
smoking. That's compared with 3 percent who saw the least.
The study also found kids with parents who don't smoke are more likely to be
influenced by films portraying smokers than kids with parents who smoke.
Last year the MPAA released a statement indicating it wanted to cut down on
smoking in films and said all smoking will be considered in ratings. Depictions
that glamorize smoking or movies that feature pervasive smoking outside of a
historic or other mitigating context may receive a higher rating, according to
the MPAA.
The MPAA oversees the Classification and Ratings Administration with the
National Association of Theatre Owners.
When determining ratings, the board considers whether the smoking is
pervasive, glamorized, or if there is a historical or other context for it.
The MPAA also said it doesn't believe it's appropriate to create mandatory
'R' rating for movies that contain smoking. Officials at the MPAA did not return
several calls for comment Tuesday.
According to the rating board, the percentage of films that included smoking
dropped from 60 percent to 52 percent between July 2004 to July 2006. Of those
films, 75 percent received an R rating for other factors.
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