ALBANY, N.Y.—New York health officials don't want kids to imitate celebrities who smoke in movies, and they're spending $800,000 trying to change the way movies are rated when actors light up.
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Years ago, stars like James Dean, Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant puffed away, making the cigarette habit look cool, but the film industry has been under pressure in recent years to cut down on glamorizing the addiction.
Daines wrote to the chief executives of six major motion picture studios earlier this month, including The Disney Company,
The Health Department's new campaign calls for certifying in closing credits that people involved with a film weren't paid to promote tobacco products. Daines also wants anti-smoking ads to run before every film that shows tobacco use. And the campaign encourages the film industry to stop naming and prominently showing tobacco brands. In movies about historical figures who smoked, the 'R' rating could be suspended, Daines said.
A 2003 study published in the journal Lancet followed the movie-watching habits of thousands of children and teenagers who never smoked. Between 13 and 26 months after the initial contact, the study found that 17 percent of those who had the highest exposure to movies depicting tobacco use had started smoking. That's compared with 3 percent who saw the least.
The study also found kids with parents who don't smoke are more likely to be influenced by films portraying smokers than kids with parents who smoke.
Last year the MPAA released a statement indicating it wanted to cut down on smoking in films and said all smoking will be considered in ratings. Depictions that glamorize smoking or movies that feature pervasive smoking outside of a historic or other mitigating context may receive a higher rating, according to the MPAA.
The MPAA oversees the Classification and Ratings Administration with the National Association of Theatre Owners.
When determining ratings, the board considers whether the smoking is pervasive, glamorized, or if there is a historical or other context for it.
The MPAA also said it doesn't believe it's appropriate to create mandatory 'R' rating for movies that contain smoking. Officials at the MPAA did not return several calls for comment Tuesday.
According to the rating board, the percentage of films that included smoking dropped from 60 percent to 52 percent between July 2004 to July 2006. Of those films, 75 percent received an R rating for other factors.
