Why they want to censor smoking in films
Thursday, April 1, 2010 A report in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine claims that young adult smokers are (shock, horror) quite likely to light up immediately after watching smoking in a movie. Writing for The Free Society, Karen McTigue argues:
While fully understanding the power of subliminal signifiers, one does not immediately run for the nearest hostelry having watched Sideways nor to the nearest karaoke joint having sat through Mamma Mia ...
Last week it was claimed that young people in Britain see significantly more smoking in films than their US peers, mainly due to the fact that in the UK we do not immediately over-classify films as ‘adult only’ simply because they may include smoking. Let us hope that this continues otherwise no more Dirty Harry, Goodfellas or Casablanca ...
In essence, we are being told that we must protect our young people from seeing others smoking because they are so impressionable that whatever they see, they do. Kind of runs counterbalance to kicking smokers out of the pubs and into the gardens and streets where they are on full view ...
One recent film that would not pass the requested test is A Single Man (Tom Ford’s cinematic version of the Christopher Isherwood novella). There’s the excessive drinking: Julianne Moore playing a beautiful lush; there's the smoking: Colin Firth on the Sobranis; and a notional glimpse of nudity - all for the price of a fair British 12A. Now that’s entertainment.
Full article HERE.
PS. I thought about posting an April Fool but when it comes to smoking you literally couldn't make it up. I can think of quite a few anti-tobacco measures that, had they been reported on April 1 ten years ago, would have been dismissed as a joke. Who's laughing now?
Simon Clark
If you follow Forest on Twitter you may have seen the link to this story: Smoking to be banned in pet owners' homes. In the words of our tweet, it's "An April Fools story that may be too close for comfort". Sort of proves my point.
Reader Comments (9)
Quite surprising that the US series Caprica is so full of smoking then (the "prequel" to Battlestar Galactica)
Nice to see to be honest, all those normal people puffing away, whilst wearing trilbies :-)
Watching "Mad Men" now, I now fully appreciate how East Germans and Cubans felt in the 60s when watching Hollywood films and wanting to escape their oppressive regimes to taste "Yankee Freedom."
If "Mad Men-Land" was a country I would have emigrated months ago...
Any truth to the rumour I'm hearing about a smoking-ban campaigner setting off a smoke bomb in Parliament, or is it an April Fool?
(Even if it is an April Fool it shows that it's crossing people's minds as they get angrier and angrier....).
The Antis never stop do they, I thought they had gone full circle at this stage but no, they've latched on to smoking in films now.
How utterly bottom of the barrell and pathetic.
Looks like they cant afford to drop the momentum, its like they have a voodoo doll and cant stop sticking pins in it, just to keep us on the torture rack with no let up until 'their' anti smoke agenda laws are imprinted on everyone's brain, with the sinister result that people will think 'not clean' when they want a smoke.
The anti smoking brigade, ASH and the govt quangos have now turned themselves into the equivalent of the religious nut fundamentalists.
All I can say about this, especially the time thats in it with an impending election, is that some govt 'task force' must have done a consensus and come to the conclusion that the brainwashing of the gullible has paid off and the ban is 'popular' with the party faithful and it wont effect their voting potential.
And all the meetings and consultations and 'promises of taking our plight very seriously' is just more window dressing to keep things running smoothly and make themselves look good, until they get into power.
Dont fall for it guys. I dont believe a word they tell us about amending the smoking ban anymore.
Just think twice, before throwing your vote away on those Partys who have guaranteed nothing.
ASH are well ahead of the Telegraph, as they were carried the "April Fool" pet story two weeks ago:
http://www.ash.org.uk/ash_9aemkp99.htm
Doh! For "were carried" read either "carried" or "were carrying".
The more these anti-smoking groups try to demonise smoking the more teens will smoke.
lt's all part of being a teen ... to rebel and shock the older generations. Actually, saying that, the people in these anti-smoking groups probably never were what you would call teenagers and were in all probability classified as boring 'geeks'.
I have been watching the current series of Shameless on Channel 4. I did not watch it before, but I was in the background in an eisode so thought I would. I am shocked. Not by the incredibly graphic soft porn, violence, bad language and filth, but this. They totally rebel against the smoking ban and smoke in the local pub. To be honest, I cannot think of many characters of all ages who do not smoke, all the time. I even noticed that the director had very cleverly put a hand written note on the pub notice board saying 'Smoking Research Centre'!
This series totally takes the piss out of the smoking ban. Channel 4 at 10pm on Tuesday. How have they got away withg no complaints from organisations like ASH and the rabid anti smokers? I would value your opinion.
@timbone - think I'll start watching "Shameless" and cheer myself up.
In view of John Britton's recent remark about children needing to be shielded from the sight of smoking and the issue of smoking in films, we can see where this is going. Tobacco will be the only legal product that you can use legally only if you live alone in an isolated cave.
When is a government going to do the decent thing and either get off our backs, thanking us profusely for our contribution to the knackered Treasury or ban tobacco outright?