Via Reuters: Tom & Jerry in trouble in for smoking scenes
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.[…]
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.
Maybe I’m just special, but I must confess: seeing Tom smoke (or, indeed, seeing anyone smoke in movies or tv) never made me think: “Hey, I think I’ll go light up one of those bad boys.” (And I actually remember seeing this particular toon as a child).
Indeed, the culture is so sufficiently anti-smoking, and I find it so personally repugnant, that seeing smoking on TV now elicits either a negative reaction or, more likely, just a recognition that I am watching something that is quite old.
For example, my wife and I TiVo The Rockford Files as a backup show when nothing else it on. Jim often lights up. Now, Jim is cool and all, but the smoking is just plain nasty. (And we won’t even get into the fact that Garner had a heart attack later in life).
At any rate: isn’t this all a bit silly?
Indeed, the culture is so sufficiently anti-smoking, and I find it so personally repugnant, that seeing smoking on TV now elicits either a negative reaction or, more likely, just a recognition that I am watching something that is quite old.
I didn’t realize you were British–I thought you blogged from Alabama, not the United Kingdom.
In Britain, the Office for National Statistics has charted an increase in smoking, with rates of smoking approaching 30% of the population.
I agree that censoring Tom and Jerry is an idiotic idea, but it is important to remember that there are different cultural norms between the United States and Britain.
Comment by Ratoe — Tuesday, August 22, 2024 @ 12:56 pm
I am a huge Andy Griffith Show fan - I have seasons 1-4 on DVD, and am itching to get number 5 (after that, we’re in the post Knotts era, which isn’t the same).
Anyway, Andy smokes a few times - the first time I saw it, it was a shocker to me. I was taken aback - the straight shooter, all around good guy in a TV show smoked? I mean, he wasn’t even the “rough, tough, but good guy” - just the good guy.
Then I remembered, “Oh, yeah, this was from the era when 9 out of 10 doctors recommended a particular brand of cigarettes.”
Still weirds me out, though. Incidentally, I’ve never seen any of the smoking episodes on cable - it happens infrequently enough that I suspect they don’t air them. (Only 1 or 2 episodes feature a main character smoking.) Of course, I may have just missed them.
Comment by B. Minich — Tuesday, August 22, 2024 @ 1:16 pm
Self-appointed copy editor again: Just thought I’d point out. . .the actor is James Garner, not “Gardner.”
Comment by Jan — Tuesday, August 22, 2024 @ 2:26 pm
Ratoe,
I was speaking in rather broad terms, and indeed by that paragraph of the post I was speaking from my own personal POV, which is American, not British, as you rightly note.
Still, I have a hard time believing that British children are radically more susceptible to smokin’ cartoon character.
I will say that in my granted somewhat limited international experience that there has been a growing anti-smoking emphasis beyond our shores–although I can speak for England, per se. (Although, the very fact that they would censor cartoons would seem to indicate that there is a rather strong anti-smoking strain to British attitudes somewhere…).
Jan: You are correct. I dashed that one off in a hurry (although I make plenty of mistake when I take my time as well…)
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Tuesday, August 22, 2024 @ 3:50 pm