The Cartoon Character of Smoking Pipe
National Health Service (NHS) chief at Liverpool’s Primary Care Trust (PCT) said that its plan to prohibit the promotion of smoking in films, including cartoons, could mean problems for the spinach-loving sailor if he ever makes a return to the screen.
Other cartoon favorites, including Bugs Bunny and Herman the smoking baby from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” could also end up adult-rated if they turn up in any new films.
Councilor (Cllr) Paula Keaveney, Liberal Democrat executive member for ethical governance, said that she had supported the smoking ban but there was no reasonable argument that children and young people are likely to be allured by smoking in films.
“It strikes me this is just interfering with artistic product and censorship and it doesn’t affect me that it will have the desired effect. I haven’t taken to the hills and become a revolutionary since I saw the film about Che Guevara.”
The smoking ban would not relate to films which portray historical figures who actually smoked or those which provide a clear and unambiguous description of the dangers of smoking, other tobacco use, or second-hand smoke.
Mark Wallace, of lobby groups the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “PCT’s are meant to focus on curing people, not on arbitrating against thought crimes.”
He explained that people have enough trouble getting doctors’ appointments and the treatment they need without taxpayers’ money being wasted on the NHS regulating the cinema. This would be an absurd restriction on harmless films.
A PCT spokesman said: “The PCT’s posture would be exactly the same whether it is a cartoon character or not. And so, if a new film is created featuring a character who smokes the PCT would want this film classified as an 18. All films featuring smoking, we would request be classified in this way unless it was depicting the harmful effect on people’s health.”
In general, programs targeted at children should not include smoking.
And research showed that teenagers are more likely to have positive views on smoking and be predisposed to smoke if their favorite actors smoke in films. However, in the case of old material such as Tom & Jerry it is neither desirable nor necessary to edit out references to smoking as such incidences are rare and unlikely to make children want to smoke.
In general censoring a cartoon because it has smoking is really stupid. The more extreme the anti-smoking measures become, the more illicit smoking will be made to appear, so children who want to rebel will be more attracted to it.
