Progress in Efforts to Cut Back on Smoking in Movies for Kids

Posted on July 18, 2011 at 3:37 pm

MedPage reports that smoking is down in movies rated G, PG, and PG-13.

Overall, there were about 72% fewer on-screen appearances of smoking and tobacco products in G, PG, and PG-13 movies in 2010 than there were in 2005, according to Stanton Glantz, PhD, of the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues…

For the three studios that had actual written policies to reduce tobacco use in their movies, there was an average drop of 95.8% in tobacco appearances, compared with a fall of just 41.7% for the three major studios and some independent film companies that had no such policies.

Among the three with anti-tobacco policies, 88.2% of their top-grossing youth films never featured smoking or tobacco, compared with 57.4% of those from companies without policies.

“This finding indicates that an enforceable policy aimed at reducing tobacco use in youth-rated movies can lead to substantially fewer tobacco incidents in movies and help prevent adolescent initiation of smoking,” Glantz and colleagues wrote.

Advocacy groups have urged film studios not to make smoking look glamorous and sophisticated. The study relied on scenesmoking.org, which has detailed documentation of the frequency and context of smoking in movies and the impact it has on young viewers. The World Health Organization has recommended an automatic R rating for any movie with tobacco smoking, except for those like “Good Night and Good Luck,” where the smoking is included for historical accuracy.

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture

What’s the Deal with All These Tree Titles?

Posted on July 3, 2011 at 8:00 am

Last time, it was a bunch of Nine movies. Now for some reason we have a bunch of movies with “tree” in the title. Here’s a quick guide to help keep them all straight.

Tree of Life is the impressionistic, sometimes mystifying Terrence Malick movie starring Brad Pitt as a powerful and sometimes abusive father of three boys in 1950’s Waco, Texas.

“The Tree” is a mystical Australian story of loss and rebirth.

“The Family Tree” is an offbeat comedy about a dysfunctional family with a mother who has lost her memory, staring Rachel Leigh Cook and Hope Davis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygqdGNQDV50

“If a Tree Falls” is a documentary about the environmental activist group, the Earth Liberation Front.

Oh, and there’s also another movie called “The Family Tree,” but that won’t be out until next year. It’s the story of an estranged father and son and it stars Gabrielle Union and “Mad Men’s” John Slattery.

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Supreme Court: Violent Video Games Get Free Speech Protection

Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:10 pm

A California law that would prevent the sale of violent video games to children has been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. The 2005 California law has never been enforced because it was found unconstitutional in the lower court as well. The 7-2 ruling (Breyer and Thomas dissenting) said, “The State wishes to create a wholly new category of content-based regulation that is permissible only for speech directed at children. That is unprecedented and mistaken. This country has no tradition of specially restricting children’s access to depictions of violence.”

Supporters of the legislation tried to make the case that exposure to violence is a public health issue, like smoking and alcohol. Opponents argued that games are protected speech, like a book or a movie. While the industry may choose to adopt its own rules voluntarily (as the movie industry has with its ratings and the theaters have done with their ticket sales policies), the government may not impose these restrictions.

Parents will have to continue to be especially vigilant about the restrictions on video games in their own homes and, the bigger challenge, in the homes of the friends where children go to play. Start with the ESRB ratings and then check out the ratings from Common Sense Media.

The Role (and Roles) of Women in Film

Posted on June 18, 2011 at 3:23 pm

Monika Bartyzel has an excellent and insightful essay on Movies.com called Girls on Film: Why Supporting Female Characters Matter.

Funny men like Seth Rogen and Jason Segal act as the everyman with a witty sarcastic edge, and since men dominate cinematic comedy, this relatability is front-and-center. But these are male-dominated characteristics that have no realistic female balance or counterpoint. They can offer relatable aspects, but not a comedic mirror for the female audience – women relating women. Since men almost universally take the lead in any comedic film that doesn’t start with “rom,” women must turn to the supporting roles – roles which are not only secondary characterizations, but also clichéd whirlwinds that have little resemblance to reality.

She used twitter to invite comments and heard back from women who were also concerned about the portrayal of female characters:

Most complaints centered on one of the most prevalent characterizations – the shrew – the woman who acts as the anti-fun counterpoint to the fun-loving man, who, as smart as she may be, cannot lighten up, who has no sense of humor and takes the fun away, and sometimes needs the man to teach her to lighten up and live. Other irksome qualities included women with a lack of friends, women as either asexual or ridiculously sexual, clingy partners, unreasonable man-haters, catfighters, superficial characters, bossy beasts, hormonal time bombs, and lest we forget – jealous, green-eyed monsters who will not allow men to interact with any woman who is not a blood relative.

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture

How to Tell If 3D is Worth the $

Posted on June 17, 2011 at 8:05 am

Cinema Blend has the best discussions I’ve seen about when you should pay the extra for the 3D glasses. The factors they consider include whether the movie was filmed in 3D or had the effects added in post-production, whether it minimizes the inevitable dimming, whether it provides a sense of depth, and the “glasses off test.” The Green Lantern 3D analysis is an excellent example. Whether you do or don’t like 3D, you’ll appreciate it much more if you check out Cinema Blend’s take before deciding whether to put on the 3D glasses.

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3D Understanding Media and Pop Culture