Cigarettes and Tobacco News

Oct 16, 2006 -- I love a good movie. I’m not sure they exist anymore, and if they do, I can’t seem to find them through all the mess out there.

I enjoy westerns a lot — you know the kind with John Wayne upholding good and righteousness in the lawless West. There’s one guarantee in those westerns beyond that John Wayne is going to kill the bad guy at the end.

Someone is going to light up a cigarette.

What?!

Oh horror of horrors. Smoking in a movie?

Well, if the censors at the American Academy of Pediatrics have their way, you won’t see another cigarette in a movie again, at least not without a stern message.

According to accounts of the academy’s conference, the group wants any movie showing use of tobacco to carry an R rating, and those that do show smoking to have antismoking ads before the movie. Also, the academy wants a ban — that’s right a ban — on the display of any brand of tobacco in movies.

The academy points to research that shows kids who see the most onscreen smoking are 2 1/2 times more likely to start smoking than those that see the least onscreen smoking.

Well, here we go. Once again, some group is trying to blame some ill behavior on some outside influence.

I don’t smoke, but I take big issues with this idea because we’re at the top of the hill and there’s a slippery slope we’re about to head down.

So, what’s next?

Let’s get rid of any movie that shows a kid eating a cookie or potato chips. We all know those aren’t good for our children. Why do you think the child obesity rate is so high?

It’s not because we as parents are filling our kids with junk food. It’s because the Little Mermaid ate a Twinkie.

And you know what? We’re going to have to get rid of all the romance movies. Yep, can’t have the kids learning about love.

After all, these great romance stories lead to only one thing — people falling in love and having sex. Next thing you know people are going to be falling in love and having sex all over the place. We as a society just can’t have that.

And what about “Star Wars?” We can’t show that. There’s just too much violence in that movie. Oh sure, our children can learn a lesson about how good triumphs over evil, but at what price? You show me a kid with a toy light saber and I’ll show you his best friend who pretends to lose an arm while they’re playing.

OK, so we’ve gotten rid of any movie that shows smoking, eating, violence or romance. That means Harry didn’t meet Sally. It means we can’t go with the wind. And, it means the lion never became king.

I may not like a lot of the movies being made today, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a right to be made and seen.

Leave it up to the parents to decide what’s appropriate for their children, not the censors at the American Academy of Pediatrics.