A study to be released next year claims that seeing celebrities smoke encourages young people to start smoking. The newspaper article http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,22049,20622395-5006007,00.html from which I took this stops just short of suggesting smoking ought to be banned in movies, but others don't.

So, what would be left to watch on the movies? If you banned smoking, then presumably you'd have to ban drug taking and unsafe sex. What about gluttony? Should all our on-screen characters be thin, or at least have a BMI less than 25?

If the cinema and TV were reserved only for moral paradigms, how would Paris Hilton, Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson et al graft a living?

In fact, given that the acting class is so full of social misfits, who would there be left to make us laugh, cry, love and swear?

Absolutely. Not only should the above undesirable behaviours be banned from films, so also should depictions of illegal acts like murder, theft etc. Not to mention all the irresponsible driving portrayed in action films.

In fact, it's clear that films should really be banned altogether.

C.J. perhaps more to the point is that things which we pretty much know and agree are bad for us, if portrayed in films...should be definitely portrayed as having negative consequences.

Marital unfaithfulness= strife, misery and broken lives.
Smoking.. = all manner of diseases and debilitating health effects.
Drinking (if to the point of drunknessness)= often leads to violence, car accidents.
Drug Taking= various ill effects and the loss of freedom.

I think it would be ok to show many things as long as their real world outcomes are also shown consistently.

Dear BD, you haven't worked out yet that the devil's work is so much more attractive than your own. Why shouldn't he get the reward for this? Anyway, wouldn't it be a degradation of our own message if the only people to succeed in this life were good people? Doesn't the Bible show bad people doing well?

JD Morgan
Funny.
That takes first prize.
You wouldnt be dead for quits would you when you can get a smlie at 5.52 am.

Ok here is my two cents worth. I think people should take more responsibility for their own lives. I mean really if you are that simple minded that you can be encouraged to smoke because you see a celebrity smoke in a movie then really there is not a lot of hope for you is there. I agree with murder scenes and crimes as this only gives lunatics ideas on how to murder etc. You know copy cat stuff. Anyway that is my thoughts.