By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press WriterMon Oct 3, 4:56 PM ET
Hollywood
might be bad for your health, according to a new study, which concludes that
blockbuster movies paint a consequence-free view of sex and drugs.
Dr. Hasantha Gunasekera, the study's lead author from the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, said the findings are troubling, "given the HIV and illicit drug pandemics in developing and industrialized countries."
The Australian researchers studied a September 2003 list of the 200 biggest box-offices successes of all time as ranked by the Internet Movie Database. They excluded animated features, films with G and PG ratings, and movies released or set before the start of the AIDS pandemic in 1983.
Of the 87 remaining movies in the study published Monday in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 28 contained sex scenes — a total of 53 scenes in all.
Only one film — 1990's "Pretty Woman," in which Julia Roberts plays a prostitute — contained a "suggestion of condom use, which was the only reference to any form of birth control."
"There were no depictions of important consequences of unprotected sex such as unwanted pregnancies, HIV or other STDs," they added.
The sexiest film — in quantity, if not quality — was 2001's "American Pie 2," which contained seven episodes of unprotected sex in which the "only consequences were social embarrassment."
The 1992 thriller "Basic Instinct" had six sex scenes, no birth control and no "public health consequences" — although death by ice pick was a threat.
Suave superspy James Bond also was chided for his promiscuity. The 2002 Bond adventure "Die Another Day" contained three episodes of sex — "all new partners, no condoms, no birth control, no consequences at all" — but at least no drug use.
Eight percent of the films contained depictions of marijuana use, and 7 percent other non-injected drugs, the researchers said.
Just over half the marijuana scenes — 52 percent — showed use of the drug in a positive way. In the other 48 percent of cases it was depicted as neutral.
Characters smoked tobacco in 68 percent of the films and got drunk in 32 percent.
Only a quarter of the movies were entirely free of behavior such as unprotected sex, drug use, smoking and drinking, the researchers said.
The authors concluded: "The motion picture industry should be encouraged to depict safer sex practices and the real consequences of unprotected sex and illicit drug use."
Film mavens disagreed.
Adam Smith, a writer with the British film magazine Empire, said it isn't Hollywood's job "to be a social or moral guardian. It's fiction."
"I don't think you can pinpoint Hollywood as responsible for sexual immorality in the post-AIDS era," said Paul Grainge of the Institute of Film and Television Studies at the University of Nottingham. "Hollywood responds to social mores as well as creates them."
Sunday, October 09, 2005
New HIV infection every four days
An average of just over one new HIV infection every
four days is occurring among men who have sex with men in New Zealand, based
on the latest six-monthly statistics for the first half of 2005. The men
receiving HIV diagnoses came from all age groups and ethnic backgrounds.
The AIDS Foundation says it is usually cautious about commenting on
six-monthly figures, but the high number of cases cannot be ignored.
“We’ve seen an unusually high number of cases reported through our own
clinics, and this suggests that the upwards trend is continuing” says NZAF
Research Director Tony Hughes.
Last year saw 73 new HIV infections among MSM, up from an average of 35 per
year from 1997 – 2001. “It looks as though 20 years of good work from
the gay community and from HIV prevention organisations is now being
unravelled,” says Hughes. “If the trend for the first half of this year
continues we’ll be looking at 88 HIV diagnoses. That would be the highest
number ever in the history of the epidemic in New Zealand.”
Hughes says the Foundation has been hearing from gay men who say that HIV
isn’t much to worry about these days, because it doesn’t seem real to
them. Some are trying to avoid infection by methods other than condom use.
“20 years into the epidemic it is plain what now has the upper hand, and
it isn’t the gay community, it is the virus,” Hughes continues. “Quite
clearly, if you think you only need to use condoms with some people and not
others then HIV infection will be a real issue for you, sooner or later.”
The Foundation is reiterating its message that condoms must be used, without
exception, for anal sex. “That decision now has to be supported at every
level – by communities of gay men, by HIV prevention services and by
businesses that serve homosexual men.”
Ref: GayNZ.com (c)