Tom & Jerry in trouble in UK for smoking

[karyn]

from yahoo

They chase each other at high speed wielding axes and hammers. But the famous cartoon duo of Tom and Jerry are in trouble in Britain for smoking on screen.

Media regulator Ofcom received a complaint from a viewer who took offence at two episodes involving smoking.

In one, "Texas Tom," the hapless cat Tom tries to impress a feline female by rolling a cigarette, lighting it and smoking it with one hand. In the other, "Tennis Chumps," Tom's opponent in a match smokes a large cigar.

In a bulletin posted online, Ofcom noted "concerns that smoking on television may normalize smoking," and said that the Turner company, licensee for Boomerang which aired the cartoons, had agreed to edit some smoking scenes out of Tom and Jerry.

"The licensee has ... proposed editing any scenes or references in the series where smoking appeared to be condoned, acceptable, glamorized or where it might encourage imitation," Ofcom said, adding that "Texas Tom" was one such example.

But it would not cut all smoking scenes, it added.

Ofcom said it recognized smoking was more generally accepted when cartoons were produced in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, but noted that the threshold for including such scenes when the audience is predominately young should be high.

[Mirren]

People will smoke if they want to. Tom smokes, we all know that. He is also a big flirt and loves beating things, so does that mean they should cut those scenes as well? This is not reality... we all know cats don't smoke, I think kids know that. When I was teaching pre-school I was reading to a class that was 2-4 years of age and they are very intelligent.This happened to be a story about a cat as well and one of the children.. this little boy was something else. He raised his hand as I read and said he had a question. I asked him what he wanted to ask and he said:" Well Miss, cats don't wear clothes, that's tilly." He pronounced his s like a t. I laughed my ass off.

[Mindgames]

Can't say I agree with the idea that Tom smoking a cigar will lead to bazillions of preschool orders for Monte Cristo, but if they're off down the thought police road maybe they need to remove the regular use of dynamite for domestic pest control. It's singlehandedly led to the growth of both international terrorism and on-call drywall services in Kansas.

mG

[xviolentxdelightx]

Kids are going to see people smoking in the street or even at hime with actual cigarettes not cartoon drawn ones. And how is smoking a cigarette worse than say hittingsomeone with a frying pan or cutting someone up?
psh.
society these days.
x

[Morning Glory]

yeah, I don't think that tom and jerry should be selling ad space for winstons salems, but I think the point is the show exagerated stereotypes for the purpose of comical humor. there's plenty more offensive things in ol T & J if you want to nitpic. I love that show and watched it all the time as a kid, and I don't smoke or harm animals.

[kellie]

I think its a good idea to take smoking, voilence, and drinking out of cartoons. We shouldnt put it in a kids head early that these things are acceptable, and thats what it does.
Not that I started smoking and drinking and fighting because of watching these cartoons as a kid, but I can see how could make a small majority of kids lean that way.

[Kidthorazine]

yeah but, those kids that would be influenced by cartoons will probably be influenced by something else later on down the road. this whole media censorship thing is getting way to out of hand.

[Vitorro]

what willl they think when they see the old flintstone ads for Winston cigarettes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqb6C2Hme9w

True, children shouldnt be exposed to this type of advertising, but back then, it wasnt known pubicly to be like it is today.

[Mindgames]

I think its a good idea to take smoking, voilence, and drinking out of cartoons. We shouldnt put it in a kids head early that these things are acceptable, and thats what it does.

By that logic, The Simpsons don't even keep their credit sequence. South Park, King of the Hill, Futurama.. Roger Rabbit, anything from Hanna Barbera, and Bambi (you know.. they shoot a DEER!). You can't censor fiction completely - cartoons aimed at kids already follow guidelines but making them into Stepford wives totally removes the point of 'a cartoon'. It's funny because you can do things you can't do to real people, and they're fine with it. Children appreciate the difference and if there's one out there that can't, then fix that kid, not the rest of the world.

mG

[GnArKiLL]

I think some people really should learn the difference between the words "Cartoon" and "Childrens programs"

[Morning Glory]

of course it's societies job to make sure that kids don't become fucked up, and that's pretty much thrown out the window because how to be good people is on the bottom of the priority list in ours. but above that it is a parents job. people are going to shit a brick about what kids see on tv, and never bat an eye about the fact that there parents are no where around, which is what really fucks a kid up, not tom and jerry. It's the fact that they are bing raised by telvesion which glorifies sex violence and greed because it's the by product of a society that promotoes sex, violence greed and most of all production of things over people. the parents have to do pointless shit like work 40 hours a week (which is more important serving fast fattening food, or taking care of your kids? if picked the first choice, you'd be right, and if you dared to suggest that you shouldn't have to make the choice between your kids and having a "real' job, that being a parent is the only real job, then you sure can't have any of my money you lazy fucking cheat.) and of course since the whole social farbic is so preoccupied with those things that drive everyone fucking nuts, we have no way of taking any of the pressure off of the parents and letting other people help out. that would require something like a community where we were actually know and trust the people around us, and we all know that we can't do that because of those aformentioned lunatics that want to rob and kill us because of TV or social inequality or bad parenting or all of the above.

[Kidthorazine]

while i agree with most of what you say MG, i kinda disagree with the parents having to work 40 hours aweek part, yeahit is important for them to spend time with the kids and whatnot, but part of caring for kids means that you have to make money to buy them food and other basic things, and sadly you cant do that without working a lot. of course you shouldnt have to choose, and you really dont, i know several parents who work full time and spend lots of time with thier kids, its more of an issue of parents not knowing what the fuck they are doing than it is them having to work.

[sheramil]

maybe they'll replace Tom and Jerry with a serialisation of "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend."

i don't recall any cigarettes in that, offhand. perhaps i was distracted by all the TENTACLE ****.

[sheramil]

if you can't afford to bring up children properly, you shouldn't have them.

(long example from a branch of my family tree deleted for reasons of "who gives a shit?")

[Morning Glory]

if you can't afford to bring up children properly, you shouldn't have them.

(long example from a branch of my family tree deleted for reasons of "who gives a shit?")

I believe that's called an Aristocratic Hierarchy. Or to phrase it another way...