Tim Leffel’s Cheapest Destinations

Disney to Ban Car Chases, Gunfights, and Pill Popping in Movies

Actually no, they’re just banning smoking in their movies, including in films from adult-oriented studio Miramax. I’ve never been a smoker and don’t get the appeal, but judging by the media coverage, few seem to see the irony in this move. Yeah, it’s unhealthy behavior we don’t want to encourage in kids, but why this particular vice and not actual death and destruction?

The number of kids killed in car crashes is staggering, yet where are the protests against senseless car chases that wipe out bystanders and pummel dozens of other vehicles? Where are the protests against violent PG-13 movies where the guy who shoots the most people is a hero? Smoking is bad, but murder is fine. Senseless torture porn movies like Saw and Hostel barely elicit a whimper of protest, yet seeing somebody puffing on a cigarette–reality that is around us on the street every day–is somehow going to corrupt our youth if they see it in a movie. They see bad behavior every day on MTV and by watching their friends, so all this is going to do is create a warped version of reality in the cinema, one where every kind of supposed bad behavior is fine—except showing a boob or smoking. Another sign that common sense is on life support.