Hi,
A volunteer arm of the powerful health organization that focuses on family issues, released on friday its "scorecard for the depiction of smoking in mass-appeal summer movies."
The new movie that came out this summer called Land of the Lost with Will Ferrell shows the actor smoking a pipe 18 times. The Medical Association Alliance believes that it results in about 124 million tobacco impressions. Because the movie is PG13 rated, Kids who are a huge fan of Ferrell or the movie might consider that it is "cool" to smoke.
What is sad is when movie studios can promote smoking to youth, but public health advocates cannot find a billboard in the whole city of Los Angeles that will run an ad to alert the public about the problem.
I have to agree. Kids nowadays would probably think that it's something they have to do to when their idols are doing something (Ex. smoking). I don't think putting such problem on a billboard will prevent people from smoking. Kids probably don't even read any of the billboards. They are as I already said more interested in what their idols are doing.
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You have a point, I guess you can say to whom much is given much is expected, and people of that status should think about their actions and how it will affect the youth that look at them as role models. But, at the same time it's just entertainment. These same kids are probably playing grand theft auto (a popular video game named after a felony, I believe) or shooting people on some other game. I'd look at it as Will Ferrel just playing the role he was paid to play, what the kids do and how they respond and act is based on how good their parents are at being parents.
ReplyDeleteI don't think people should be smoking in movies rated PG-13, PG, or G. Peer pressure and doing what's "cool" is what kids are all dealing with and thinking about, so giving the impression that smoking is the cool thing is out.
ReplyDeleteI started smoking when I was 14 because I thought it was cool and all my friends did it. Turned out, all those friends were losers and it started an addiction that I fought with for over 10 years. Next month I will have been smoke free for 2 years, but it has been no small feat.
Anyone that can get in to an R rated movie without a guardian is old enough to make a rational decision on their own, so if people want to smoke in those movies, whatever, but keep it out of PG-13 and lower ratings.
I do see your point, but also I think that if children don't see smoking in the movies they are seeing it through a lot of times there parents, magazines, other kids at school. Kids are going to be introduced to theses things no matter what, I feel that it is the parents responsibility to inform them about the facts. Sheltering them in one form of media does not prevent them from being exposed in other ways.
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