Smoke on the Silver Screen

So, movie ratings will now factor in the amount of smoking portrayed on the screen? I have my doubts that it will do any good.

The film industry said the move underscores its growing commitment to reducing teenage smoking. If Lois Lane lights up, for example, a movie that previously would have earned a PG-13 rating, based on its levels of sex, violence, and vulgarity, might now get an R -- and a warning to parents that the film glamorizes smoking.

But anti smoking activists expressed dismay yesterday that the guidelines did not go further. Despite four years of discussion, there was no promise that a certain amount of smoking would warrant an immediate grade of R, which can be the kiss of box office death because -- in theory, any way -- it means younger adolescents can't see it without parental consent.

"You hate to use the phrase, but the proposed change to the ratings is a smoke screen instead of a concrete, measurable change," said Matthew Myers , president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids , which had argued that any film depicting smoking should be branded with an R. "It will allow Hollywood to say that it has done something while not actually forcing a change in the smoking our children see."

What's next? How about measuring how much the characters drink? Drink and drive? Drug use? Surely alcohol and drug abuse contributes to deaths just as surely as smoking does - and the damage is sometimes done in the blink of the eye - as thousands are killed each year by drunk drivers. Why not go after drinking in the movies?

On second thought, where does this end?

The US already has laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to persons under the age of 18. There have been warnings showing the danger of smoking for more than 30 years. Yet, people still light up and take up smoking. Is altering the ratings of movies going to change anything? Not likely.

Such a change could take classic movies like Casablanca and turn them into rated R movies.

This is an idea that simply will do nothing except assuage the feelings of a few within the entertainment industry. It will not affect sales of tobacco. There are good reasons that characters are portrayed smoking in the movies, and that's because people in general smoke. It also sets a tone and theme in a scene and if that's part of the artistic vision, I don't think it right that a movie be penalized because a character lights up even as there may be no violence or no sex (sex in a movie is a separate question altogether) shown.