As blockbusters begin to hit the movie theaters, a trio of separate studies regarding smoking and cinema have been released this first month of summer shedding light on both the suggestive power of seeing big screen heroes light up and the ineffectiveness of pre-film anti-smoking ads. Meanwhile, outside the psych labs, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has added "gratuitous or non-historical smoking" to the list of warnings, but has yet to make it grounds for an automatic R rating.
In a study released in the June issue of Tobacco Control, researchers stated that viewing anti-smoking advertisements were only affective in dissuading future tobacco use in those individuals who weren't yet smoking. Conversely, a new study appearing in the July issue of Psychological Science showed once again that viewing a character smoking in a movie increases the likelihood that audience members will smoke in the future. According to the study, "The results were clear. For both smokers and non-smokers, identification with the smoking protagonist led to greater implicit association of smoking with the self. Thus, exposure to smoking in a movie has an influence on smoking-related thoughts."
Author Sonya Dal Cin, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center of Dartmouth Medical School, writes that "exposure to behaviors in film can exert subtle influence" on our behavior. The study is part of a larger program of research on the persuasive impact of stories and the effect that identifying with characters has on one's own self-concept.
With findings such as these in tow, health advocates and anti-smoking groups recently requested that the Motion Picture Association of America include cigarette smoking in the movie-rating system. In response, the MPAA announced May 10 that it will consider non-historical gratuitous or glamorized smoking as grounds for an "R" rating.
"In our regular dialogue with parents, they frequently note that depictions of smoking in films have significantly declined in recent years," said Dan Glickman, MPAA chair and CEO, in the statement. "Moreover, parents are very clear to us that they - not the industry and certainly not the government - should determine what is appropriate viewing for their kids. What they want is information, and that is the action we are now taking."
While the MPAA's parents may say one thing, research says another, finding "an overall increase in the depiction of smoking in films in the 1990s that seemed to coincide with restrictions in advertising. Lead characters portrayed as smokers are often likeable, rebellious, attractive and/or successful," particularly in films featuring popular actresses.
Currently, smoking does not equal an R rating for movies, although movies must now mention pervasive or glamorous smoking in the ratings box. While some parents may forego a film on this ground, it's unlikely to make producers think twice the way restricting viewers--and box office sales--with the higher rating would.
Read more:
Article: Counter advertising at the cinema reduces appeal of smoking only to non-smokers
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