As we recently mentioned, as part of our Freshly Pressed celebrations, we will be writing all this week about topics inspired by our readers. Our first entry is based on a blog entry we found by Kamilla Berdin, in which she asks “Should 101 Dalmations Be Rated “R?“, based on a story reported in the Toronto Star that suggests smoking in films can influence teens to pick up the habit, according to a study by a doctor at Dartmouth College.
Apparently, Cruella De Vil smokes in the movie, which can lead to teen smoking, because teens have been mimicking everything Glenn Close, the actress who played Creulla, has done since the late 1980′s when she appeared in Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons. Now you know why decades of teens have been getting involved in so many love triangles, often involving boiling rabbits.
Since we just spoiled a plot point in Fatal Attraction, we won’t spoil Kamilla’s position on this scientific study, so you’ll have to check out her blog to find out what she thinks!
In Scandinavia, they know the best way to stop teen smoking is to use reverse psychology by naming a cigarette brand “Smart.” No teenager has thought it’s cool to be “smart” in the world since MTV debuted the Hills and Jersey Shore!
In the mean time, if you are concerned that your child just saw 101 Dalmatians and will take up smoking, in the province of Ontario, where it is illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone under age 19, remember, it could always be worse! Here are:
3 Worse Things Disney Movies Could Inspire Teenagers To Do Than Start Smoking
1. Kiss a dog with spaghetti in its mouth, just like in the famous scene in Lady And The Tramp, released in 1955! The teenagers who were into cartoons in 1955 are about 70 to 76 years old now! And we all know, every time we go to a restaurant for 4pm dinner, what a major problem it is to watch these former young hooligans kiss their dogs, right at the table, in full public view! Get a room!
2. Talk like cars that have nothing interesting to say for 106 minutes and drive a car out of the top of London’s Big Ben, just like the cars in Disney-Pixar’s critically-panned, Cars 2. And as we alluded to in another article, we hope tourists stop driving cars on the American side (a.k.a. right) side of the air, when visiting the United Kingdom! The only thing worse than when your teenager starts copying everything in this movie, is when your tween 2001 Honda Civic starts imitating the bad behavior in this movie, causing you to be an unwilling passenger around a speedway in Monaco. But, it is partially your fault for seeing Cars 2 with your teenagers in the Civic at the Drive-In!
3. Attaching balloons to their parents’ house, just like in Disney-Pixar’s Up! Parents out there, you thought it was bad when you heard horror stories of teenagers throwing parties and trashing their parents’ homes, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damages! Just imagine trying to explain to your insurance company that “my badly behaved teenager tied a bunch of helium balloons to a house, at, of all things, a birthday party, and the house just drifted into the sky!” Because, of course, this has been happening since Up was released in 2009! Ask any Dartmouth College Professor (just preferably not ones from departments of science or engineering!).
