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Hollywood's 'bad for your health'
03/10/2005 12:56 - (SA)
London - Along with his handgun and exploding cigarette lighter, movie superspy James Bond should also carry condoms, doctors said on Monday in a report slamming Hollywood's attitudes to sex and drug use.
Citing repeated scenes of unprotected sex, drug use, smoking and alcohol abuse in popular films, the report criticised film makers for depicting unhealthy behaviour without mentioning the potential consequences.
Bond was cited as a particular villain in the article, published in British publication the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
The womanising secret agent was found guilty of three sexual encounters in 2002 film Die Another Day in which condoms and birth control were not mentioned at all.
The team of three Australian health experts led by Dr Hasantha Gunasekera from the University of Sydney compiled the report by examining 87 of the most popular films of the past 20 years aimed at an adult audience.
Social embarrassment blamed for unsafe practices
Only a quarter of the movies were free of drug, alcohol, smoking or unsafe sex scenes, and of 53 sex scenes in total just one, Julia Roberts comedy Pretty Woman from 1990, suggested condom use.
Bond wasn't the only star condemned for failing to use protection.
Crime thriller Basic Instinct from 1992 included six sex scenes without a suggestion of condoms or birth control, while 2001 teen comedy American Pie 2 contained seven unsafe sex scenes. Social embarrassment was the only negative consequence mentioned.
The same was largely true for drugs, with scenes containing cannabis not depicting any negative consequences, while more than half portrayed the drug as positive, the report found.
"The most popular movies of the last two decades often show normative depictions of negative health behaviours," the report concluded.
"The motion picture industry should be encouraged to depict safer sex practices and the real consequences of unprotected sex and illicit drug use."
- AFP
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South Africa
