THUNDER BAY -- If Kellie Milani has her way, any movie screened in Ontario that includes scenes of smoking will carry a potentially box office-killing 18A rating.
Milani, the youth development specialist for the Northwest Tobacco Control Area Network, says studies show 37 per cent of youth smokers in Ontario are influenced by characters lighting up on screen. She estimated the ratings change could prevent 185,000 people in the province from starting to smoke over the next decade, saving up to 30,000 lives prematurely.
“There have been studies that have been done all over the world and they all show the same results,” Milani said on Thursday.
“Smoking in movies causes kids to start smoking. The statistics are pretty glaring.”
With the help of the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, Milani’s organization has produced a short video showcasing the impact smoking in movies can have on children and youth.
The video also demonstrates how tough it is for parents to screen films before allowing their kids to watch.
Forcing producers to eliminate smoking in films or face a more restrictive rating is the most efficient way to ensure young people aren’t exposed to tobacco, an industry that can no longer advertise in Canada and must hide its products on store shelves in Ontario.
Under the proposed changes – which are set provincially – producers would still be free to have characters smoking in their movies, but they’d do so knowing children 17 and younger in Ontario wouldn’t be able to see the film on the big screen without a parent in tow. It would include movies like the Academy Award-winning animated Johnny Depp flick Rango, which depicted more than 50 instances of smoking in 107 minutes of screen time.
“The truth is, if it’s really important for producers to include smoking scenes, they could do so under an 18A rating. But if they want to open up their movie to a larger audience, they’ll have to eliminate the smoking scene,” Milani said.
“So it’s a decision they’ll have to make.”
According to the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2014 youth aged 12 to 17 “oversample in tickets sold versus their proportion of the population.”
