Tom and Jerry accused of setting a bad example

Nuno Pacheco denounces the fundamentalism of anti-tobacco crusaders whose fight on behalf of public health occasionally leads to blatant censorship. "A few days ago, a British citizen discerned a dangerous incitement to smoke in two Tom and Jerry cartoons: in one, there was someone smoking a cigarette, in the other, a cigar. The zealous citizen filed a complaint on the grounds that this was harmful to children. He was heeded: the scenes were cut. For whose benefit ? That of the children ? ... It would be normal to see them, knife in hand, chasing their parents or throwing their brothers out the window. This is what we can see in cartoons. For the time being, none has complained. ... Countries where drugs, war and violence are a daily spectacle for everyone (including children) take pleasure in cracking down on minor dangers in an attempt to reveal an inner purity that they lack."

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