This Cigarette Not Yet Rated

The Motion Picture Association of America has apparently decided that depictions of people smoking are as damaging to young children as graphic displays of sex or violence. Therefore, the MPAA will consider glamorizations of smoking as grounds to award an R rating. This nonsense is a dangerous precedent. What other unhealthy behaviors will the MPAA try to reign in next? Eating fast food hamburgers? Not getting enough sleep at night?

Look, it's one thing to restrict sex or violence or profane language, all of which can be intrinsically disturbing to a child who happens to come across them. But any kid can walk down the street with his parents and see people lighting up left and right. For the MPAA to be issuing value judgments about otherwise legal behavior puts them in a dangerous position of social policeman. (And don't tell me for a second that this new standard won't change anything. The difference between a PG-13 rating and an R rating is millions of dollars spent by the valuable 13-17 demographic, a group of people that actually goes to the movies since there's not much else you can do at that age if you want to go out.)