Question for Gail about Marvel smoking ban.

[Reverend Smooth]

Originally Posted by Night Swordsman

I only wish to point out is that ALOT of teens see friends and family smoke and DO say 'Yeah, that looks cool',then actually START smoking. Once you start,it is incredibly hard to quit,period.

And smoking rates have been going down.

Simple fact: Smoking can cause death. To in anyway endorse it to teens[/quote]Except that it doesn't have to be an endorsement. Violence causes death, but I don't see an absence of that in comics, either. Jumping off buildings causes death... wearing spandex in certain places causes death...

Marvel aims their product at a teen audience.

DOn't they have mature readers titles, and hasn't the demographic been accepted to be mostly 30-year-olds anyway?

Overall,its a individual choice to choose to smoke or not smoke,but do not discount the power of any media in a way to influence these choices. The best way to counter smoking is with information.

Right, by pretending that things don't exist instead of dealing with it in a mature fashion. Talk about patronising.

People treat kids like they're dumb. It's part of why I did not read anything aimed at kids when I was one.

[stealthwise]

Here's a good comparison: Coffee.

Coffee may not represent the same level of danger to people as cigarettes (that's arguable for either side, but I'll not digress...), but it does have addictive qualities, and is known for side effects on health (both positive and negative, due to the amount of caffeine).

However, in a large amount of media, comics and otherwise, coffee is represented and consumed by a large number of characters. It's ubiquity is reflective of our times, many people consume coffee.

Cigarettes are no longer socially acceptable in a lot of circles, and Quesada is simply reinforcing that new notion. If he were to ban the drinking of coffee in Marvel comics, the backlash would be much greater.

Do I agree with his policy? Not really, but I'm not a fan of most kinds of censorship (although I am a fan of the "use your common sense, morons!" creedo, which prohibits senseless rape and torture, and ridiculous notions like "spider-jizz killed my wife!"). I think regardless of personal motivation, Quesada's policy makes sense in a world where a lot of things are no longer acceptable to talk about or present in a positive light.

Does that make it a good thing? Obviously some people agree, and others do not, but I do think that the lack of positive presence of cigarettes in movie, tv, and even comics has contributed to the decline in tobacco's popularity, although that might be due to the spread of awareness of things like respiratory problems and cancer.

[Citizen V]

Originally Posted by stealthwise

Can we have DC introduce a rape ban?

No..its a way of showing that men are still superior.