Culture
Just imagine this picture from the American future film Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: early morning, England, London, Baker Street house 221b. Watson is having a peaceful breakfast with scrambled eggs and bacon, Mrs. Hutson is taking out coffee, while Sherlock Holmes is rocking in his rocking chair, playing the violin and… sucking a lollipop!
We may have gone a little too far in modeling the scene described above, but it does not look so fantastic in light of the recent measures taken by Americans to combat smoking on on TV and in movies.
The fact is that last week, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) published its extensive report, which presented the state of affairs with smoking in American cinema. Representatives of the organization noted that, despite a slight decrease in smoking scenes, American cinema continues to make films that contain both cigarettes and smoking movie characters.
The CDC is calling on the US film industry to step up the fight against smoking in movies. The agency notes in its report that about half of American films promote smoking. Meanwhile, half of these films fall into the so-called PG-13 category, which means that children under 13 are allowed to watch (although parents are advised to accompany their children to such films).
According to statistics, smoking scenes in movies increase by two to three times the likelihood that a teenager who watches this movie will taste tobacco later. In this regard, US Congressmen, Democrat Edward Markey (Edward Markey) and Republican Joseph Pitts (Joseph Pitts), demanded that the American Association of Cinematographers MPPA (Motion Picture) Association of America) to tighten control over new films, and reduce the number of smoking scenes in them to a minimum.
It should be noted that America has long been fighting against smoking on screen. Back in 2007, smoking scenes were equated with scenes of violence, sex, and obscene language. On the other hand, the US Court of Appeals in a recent ruling overturned the 2004 ban on live swearing, calling it “unconstitutional.”
Well, maybe we should get used to the new, “non-smoking” images of our favorite characters in movies and on TV screens. Health, after all, is more expensive!