美国国家公共电台 NPR Netflix Curbs Tobacco Use Onscreen, But Not Pot. What's Up With That?

Netflix Curbs¹ Tobacco Use Onscreen, But Not Pot. What's Up With That?

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Cigarette smoking seems almost campy in the Netflix show "Stranger Things." It's set in the 1980s. But the main characters are young teenagers, so the series was heavily criticized over all the smoking by its adult characters.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “STRANGER THINGS”)

WINONA RYDER: (As Joyce Byers) Oh, Jesus, Hopper.

DAVID HARBOUR: (As Jim Hopper) Brings me back old times.

RYDER: (As Joyce Byers) What?

HARBOUR: (As Jim Hopper) Well, sharing my cigarettes between...

RYDER: (As Joyce Byers) Fifth and sixth period.

HARBOUR: (As Jim Hopper) Yeah, under the steps.

SIMON: After a study showed that "Stranger Things" featured more smoking than any other show, Netflix announced a ban on cigarettes in new programs aimed at general audiences. But as NPR's Neda Ulaby reports, there is plenty of pot smoking on Netflix shows and movies meant to appeal to teenagers.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE²: The point is not that smoking pot is wrong. It's just maybe there's a double standard.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

ULABY: The Netflix show "On My Block" is rated TV-14 for audiences 14 and older. That's exactly the same rating as "Stranger Things." "On My Block" is about high school students. Its very first scene shows kids doing bong hits at a party. One character is a lovable pot-smoking grandma. You'll also see plenty of weed on Netflix romantic comedies like "Always Be My Maybe."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) What are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Smoking weed and dancing in front of a mirror. Want to join?

ULABY: That movie is rated for even younger audiences. This troubles Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

STANTON GLANTZ: Rating a film for 14-year-olds that's promoting substance use - it's like the peak of risk.

ULABY: Although pot is widely regarded as holistic³ and harmless, Glantz says that's not accurate.

GLANTZ: Marijuana is not harmless. Secondhand marijuana smoke has the same kind of adverse⁴ effects on your blood vessels⁵ as smoking a cigarette does.

ULABY: Study after study has shown a cause and effect between seeing cigarettes on screen and using tobacco, Glantz says. There aren't many similar studies about pot. But as legalization gains momentum⁶, weed is becoming normalized in popular culture.

(SOUNDBITE OF COUGHING)

ULABY: Like in "Grace And Frankie" on Netflix, which is rated for older viewers.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "GRACE AND FRANKIE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Marijuana has finally met its match - Grace Hanson.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) There's not enough weed in this world to relax that woman.

ULABY: A couple of years ago, Netflix showed up at a pop-up event at a West Hollywood dispensary and provided weed varieties based on some of its most popular shows. Pot, rather than tobacco, can help make a certain kind of company seem cool, says cultural critic Alyssa Rosenberg.

ALYSSA ROSENBERG: Marijuana has sort of a better lobbying message right now than tobacco does.

ULABY: For much of the 20th Century, Rosenberg says, Big Tobacco actively⁷ and successfully promoted cigarettes in movies and on TV.

ROSENBERG: They were planting stories about how Paul Newman was learning to light two cigarettes at a time for a role. They focused on trying to get stars to smoke on air during tapings of "The Merv Griffin Show."

ULABY: It's a little disingenuous⁸, she says, for filmmakers or studios today to argue that smoking's an artistic⁹ expression or creative freedom when much of it, historically, was placed. Professor Stanton Glantz worries that kind of product placement might happen again with weed when it becomes widely commercialized.

GLANTZ: And Netflix ought to be adopting a policy that, you know, not only is based on the bomb-proof science we have on tobacco but brings common sense into the discussion for these other exposures.

ULABY: It's not just Netflix. Other leading streaming companies do not have policies about tobacco or pot use on screen - at least none that are public. Netflix, Hulu and Amazon did not respond to NPR's requests for comment. But earlier this month, 43 state attorneys general signed a letter sent to streaming companies asking for better practices when it comes to showing tobacco use on screen. Pot might be next on the agenda. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

1 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

4 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

5 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

7 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

8 disingenuous   

adj.不诚恳的，虚伪的

参考例句：

• It is disingenuous of him to flatter me.他对我阿谀奉承，是居心叵测。
• His brother Shura with staring disingenuous eyes was plotting to master the world.他那长着一对狡诈眼睛的哥哥瑞拉，处心积虑图谋征服整个世界。

9 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。