if people are that stupid then they should smoke...
please dont throw any rocks at me thanks

I say let 'em smoke. Its not like they're going to go back and edit out all smoking scenes from the bajillions of other movies that have ever been made. Besides, I read that the MPA is going to add smoking into the criteria for giving ratings.

My knee jerk reaction to this is that it's a stupid idea to ban smoking in films. After all, people smoke everywhere in real life and everyone - kids included - see that everyday of their lives. BUT - I do remember being around 13 years old and seeing celebrities smoking and thinking that if they do it, it's probably alright. So I have mixed feelings.

Pleassse. I am so tired of people blaming everything in the world for their choices in life but themselves. Let free choice reign and let the consequences of free choice go to those that make them. Let them say yes I made that choice and yes I will take responsibility for my choice.

Do we ban them from drinking on film? It causes liver disease. Do we ban them from driving vehicles, or flying in planes? It increases one's carbon footprint. What about showing them eating fries and burgers? Trans fat and cholesterol there. I'm 100% with you, torngyrl.

I totally agree with torngyrl and mystery2me, let people make their own decisions. If they choose to smoke, let them smoke, it is their choice and it is not illegal. And why should they ban smoking if they don't ban, oh I don't know, killing people in movies? They glamorize violence in movies but there isn't any talk of taking that out, and that actually IS against the law. I'm a little annoyed by the anti-smoking fury, just let people do their own thing, we all know it's bad for us, so leave it at that.

sometimes smoking is what makes the scene or character....if they are going to ban smoking, then they have to ban drinking and doing drugs as well...

Why ban it? It is ridiculous. If you do not know what choices to make in life (and/or are not taught and raised to know it will likely kill you and if you do it you are an idiot) seeing it on the movies is not going to change it. I hate those arguments that people see actors as role models and will do everything they do to be cool. Be responsible and think like an individual. I do not buy people do everything they see celebs doing -- otherwise kids out there would be hanging around pantiless drinking till they pass out and going to rehab because it is the cool thing to do. I think with all this media attention/gossip sites people are actually more weary of celebs/movie stars see them as real people some with more problems than us) and don't see all they do as cool anymore. Anyway, I digress...

And Prissy, they are going into old movies/cartoons and taking out the smoking -- another ridiculous idea. Don't even get me started on that point. There is a Tom and Jerry cartoon (or was it Bugs) that caused a lot of controversy because they removed a long smoking scene... that is just the beginning....

precisly hollywood jess.. that was my point.

Let's just throw out all bad behavior in film that might endorse an unhealthy or bad lifestyle.. smoking, drugs, sex, prostitution, murder, rape, fighting, speeding, stealing, lying.. wow.. there goes more than half of our Oscar nominated films since Hollywood began.

And I think there might already be guidelines in place in the undefined super hush hush undefined or unverifable entity that is known as MPAA: that limit what can be protrayed on PG and PG13 movies.. that is good enough for me.

If all it takes to get a kid to smoke is a celeb doing it, it is more a reflection of the parenting than the movies. It is mom and dads responsibility to teach kids good behavior in the face of bad behavior. Think of it this way -- every time your kid sees a celeb smoke is a chance to talk to your kid about NOT smoking. I think cigarettes should be taxed super super super super high to pay for all the costs smokers rack up and that people who smoke are tools, but banning it on film isn't a solution - - it is a distraction.

You go BShax!! YA!

I love me a cigarette once in a while !!!

I smoke (don't judge me), and I know it's a terrible.
But I never started because of watching movies or seeing celebrities do it.
I think I mostly started smoking because all my life my mom was a 2 pack-per-day smoker, and she never discouraged it, even when I picked up the habit at age 13.
I agree with whoever said it has more to do with parenting.
But people should remember, not everyone who smokes is a bad person or a complete idiot. We all know about the effects and how we're endangering our lives by smoking. Other circumstances just make it difficult to quit. Plus, many smokers have tried (and are sitll trying) to quit numerous times over the years...

yes. and no more sex in films, drinking, swearing or being rude. no more guns, swearing, driving in an unsafe manner or blowing anything up either. let's see, what's left; cartoons made by disney 50 years ago.

I don't think it should be banned...it is 2007, if people don't know by now that smoking can kill them then I have to sympathy for people who become addicted. It is up to parents to explain to their children the effects of smoking not Hollywood.

it can totally add to a character, i say keep it.

How can tobacco be the second leading cause of death in the world? If you think about it, causes like famine, malaria, tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases, etc. that kill thousands of people (most of them children) in underdeveloped countries must take more than the first 10 places of the list.
Just wondering...

And about the smoking in movies subject: cinema is an art-form. Art should be absolutely free, so that the artist can create! With all this banning (mostly in the USA) there will be nothing left to show in the end. It is like going back to middle-age, with the censorship of the roman catholic church and the absolute monarchs!

Sometimes it is very important part of a character.
In a few stories I have written that was the case.
Just like death happens when it is needed in the story so is such a character flaw as smoking.

i said other because i think rated r movies are okay to have smoking in. or if it's historical. other than that, i don't think pg movies would even need to have smoking in it. i don't think we should ban it altogether. i'm a huge movie buff, and i can't imagine some of my favorite (rated R) movies without the characters smoking, such as "the royal tennenbaums".

I think that it depends on the target audience of the movie. If it's for kids, then they defiinitely should now smoke. I know that personally, I'm not influenced by characters in the movies, neither are any of the adults I know. Kids, however, are much more influential.

Of course they should be allowed to smoke. In the end, it's up to the parents who let kids watch movies where the characters are smoking. It's the parents' responsibility to teach their children about the dangers of smoking.

Keep it. People should have enough of a brain to know not to have others influence them. If people always followed what they saw, then everything would be banned. It's a personal choice, now how you justify why you're doing it, it's all up to you. I don't agree when people say, well I saw a celeb doing this so I'm doing it. You're your own person, so do stuff for yourself not because someone else is.

Keep it, of course. Newsflash: Movies are art, which often reflects life, and in real life people smoke. I have no problem taking smoking out of public spaces because secondhand smoke kills and I'm not interested in dying because of someone else's nasty habit, but simply watching someone else smoke isn't going to kill anyone. Besides, like others have said, where does it end? And how come nobody mentions words like "censorship" when issues like this come up?

I think people have their own brains capable of making their own decisions. If you don't want to smoke, no one is forcing you. I do not believe that because you do not agree with what others are doing, you should start a campaign to have it banned. No matter how stupid, or absurd, it seems to you, you think for yourself, while others think for themselves. Think about this: in some cities, if you smoke in the wrong place you can be fined $2,000; if you fail to put your child into a safety seat, the fine is $75. Where are our priorities? Second hand smoke preachers: What is worse? Breathing in 2nd hand smoke, or walking down the street and inhaling the exhaust from a bus, or any air in a big polluted city?

Whatever, it doesn't really matter.

I think sometimes the filmakers/directors use smoking as a cheap way to convey what or who the character is. I would love to see this type of cheap shot banned. But since they can't bann contriteness, let them puff away on screen. We all know what smokers look like (and smell like!)in their fourties. For me, to see someone smoking onscreen shows the character to be trash, low class, no prospective future.... I know some people equate smoking with art, but I can only see the missing smokers tooth (two back from the canine), the wrinkles, the stained fingers, the smoky stale hair, the stained teeth.... nothing sublime or sexy about that.

Who cares if actors smoke? Hollywood also glamorizes drug use, violence, etc... and people manage to avoid those behaviors (well, generally). No one campaigns against that.

Censorship is terrible in any form. What about free speech?

lickety split- I just noticed your comment.

Actually, cartoons from Disney fifty years ago were violent and sexist, too. We'd be left with nothing.

it should be up to them personally, whether they want to smoke or not. they're will always be divas who won't follow orders anyway.

They just try to find other ways to blame others for their own actions... BS, keep them cigarretes!

no i hate catherin heigel because she's always smoking in pictures