I am stickler about my children not watching movies or television shows containing guns/shoot 'em up scenes. I would rather them watch a couple engaged in intercourse than an image of a person firing a weapon. For the most part it seems that the movies they watch are fairly rated when it comes to my requirements. However, it appears that there could soon be new hurdles for studios to jump through to get a desired rating. It seems smoking scenes will be part of the list taken into account when a movie rating is issued; movies with smoking scenes would receive more restrictive ratings than those without smoking. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is uncomfortable with the fact that smoking is increasingly becoming a socially unacceptable past time. With the concern of underage smoking in mind, the MPAA will review films with these questions in mind:
- Is the smoking pervasive throughout the film?
- Does the film glamorize smoking?
- Does the historical content of the film merit a smoking scene?
I have to admit I have not given smoking in the movies a lot of thought. I do sometimes wonder if the actor smokes in real life or if he/she took it up for the role. I will be curious to see where this effort goes. What do you think? Good idea?
