SPECIAL FEATURES:
Email
Anti-smoking advocates fuming over 'Rango'
Does 'Rango' — and its 60 instances of character smoking — send the wrong message to kids?
Wed, Mar 09 2011 at 10:15 AM
Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures
"Rango," a new animated film from Paramount Pictures, opened a few days ago and topped the weekend box office with a gross of $38 million. The film, which stars Johhny Depp as a domesticated lizard marooned in a small western town, has recieved rave reviews from film critics. But not everyone is thrilled about "Rango." In fact, the film is taking heat from parents, health experts and anti-smoking advocates over its many images of cigarette and cigar smoking.
According to the Sacramento, Calif.-based nonprofit Breathe California, there are more than 60 instances of character smoking in "Rango." That's almost unheard of for a PG-rated animated film, one that is clearly marketed to kids. According to Breath California, the only other animated film with that much smoking in it was "101 Dalmatians," with about 60 instances of Cruella De Vil smoking — and that was made in 1961, before smoking in TV and films became an issue.
Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California-San Francisco, said in a statement that kids who frequently see smoking onscreen are two to three times more likely to begin smoking than peers who rarely see it depicted. He was so outraged by what he considered the gratuitous smoking in "Rango" that on Feb. 23, his group, Smoke Free Movies, took out a full-page ad in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter that slammed the movie, asking, "How many studio execs did it take to OK smoking in a 'PG' movie?"
Virginia Lam, a spokeswoman for Paramount, the company that made "Rango," defended the film by saying that the title character never smokes. "The images of smoking in the film ... are portrayed by supporting characters and are not intended to be celebrated or emulated," she said.
Nevertheless, "Rango" has reignited a call from anti-smoking advocates for the Motion Picture Association of America, or MPAA, to rate any film that shows smoking as "R."
The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.
You might also like:
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
EDITORS' PICKS
Advertisement
TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ON
- 13 natural remedies for the ant invasion
- Brooklyn's largest public housing development gets urban farm
- What a grocery store without bees looks like
- 8 astonishing benefits of walking
- Henry Cavill's 'Man of Steel' workout video
- 7 surprising things Pope Francis has done in his first 100 days
- Student science experiment finds plants won't grow near Wi-Fi router
- Cap'n Crunch defends his honor on Twitter
- Too beautiful to be real? 16 surreal landscapes found on Earth
- 9 habits that may do more harm than good
NEWSLETTER
ABOUT Jenn Savedge
Green parenting author on raising eco-friendly kids.
Advertisement
Hi
Such a Nice article.If any he/ she looking for quit smoking tips then can easily get from http://www.quitsmokingpillcoupons.com/
"What about the obesity problem?"
As far as I'm aware, the food industry isn't adding addictive chemicals to their food products.
>protest group freaks out about minor thing
>takes out full page ad n newspaper to overhype claim
I'm not surprised in the slightest.
Remind you of someone, No2AV?