http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/should-movies-be-rated-r-for-smoking/
In a movie, when a character smokes, is that effectively an advertisement for smoking?
Researchers from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth have found a strong relationship between movie smoking exposure in films rated PG-13 and adolescent smoking. The relationship between movie smoking and the habit itself isn’t a new one, but in the past, the precise association has been unclear. Was it the visuals of smoking itself, or the exposure to other adult-oriented content in movies depicting smoking, like sex and violence, which promoted the smoking behavior, or were young people who tend to see movies depicting adult behavior that just happens to include smoking are also more likely to smoke?
In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers found that exposure to smoking in movies with a PG-13 rating had essentially the same impact on adolescent smoking as exposure to smoking in movies R-rated movies, suggesting, they say, that it is the smoking itself, rather than the other adult content or an attraction to that content, which causes the association.
The solution offered is simple: “an unambiguous R rating for smoking” — not to increase the number of movies rated R, but to decrease the amount of smoking in movies aimed at the teenaged audience. The Motion Picture Association of America already considers smoking a factor in rating a film, and may include it in the explanatory description. For example, 2011’s “Rango
” was rated PG for “rude humor, language, action and smoking.” But smoking alone is not enough to earn a film an R. If it were, these researchers argue, then filmmakers seeking to reach a wider audience would be less likely to include smoking in their movies.