Rated R for Smoking?

Published



A class action lawsuit against the Motion Picture Association of America—claiming “tobacco imagery” in Hollywood movies brainwashes our youth—would have every film with as much as puff receive an R rating.

Among recent films targeting tender young minds with alluring swirls of smoke, the suit cites 2015 Bond flick Spectre, in which a skeleton puffs a cigar, and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. They’d slap an R rating on Gandalf the Grey’s baroque smoke rings? Not quite Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones sexily smoking in outer space.

Trusted reporting.Unlimited access.

Subscribe for full access to Washington Examiner coverage, expert political analysis, and subscriber-only journalism.

Get Unlimited Access

Already a member? Log in

Cancel anytime.