1939年蝙蝠侠首次在漫画中亮相,他出现在银幕上的次数比任何其他超级英雄都要多。有12部以上的真人饰演的电影描述蝙蝠侠为保护哥谭市的街道而战斗。这周,最新一部《蝙蝠侠:斗篷十字军》即将在北美上映,35岁的英国男演员罗伯特·帕丁森 (Robert Pattinson) 将扮演蝙蝠侠,这是对英雄的最新演绎。虽然这部电影里也有很多暴力场面,但是雪茄的镜头因为太有争议性而无法出现。
爱尔兰演员科林·法瑞尔(Colin Farrell)在影片中扮演企鹅,他试图游说让他所扮演的角色在电影中抽雪茄,但是没有通过。上周,在“油管”频道的一次采访中,被问及企鹅这个角色通常为观众所熟悉的一些服饰,比如礼帽、香烟、单片眼镜是否还会出现在新片时,科林·法瑞尔说没有。
法瑞尔说,大制片公司总是会考虑影片中是否合适出现香烟、雪茄。法瑞尔说,但是我很坚持,我希望这个角色可以拿着一支雪茄。我可以拿着不抽。
因为穿着重型道具服,法瑞尔本人很难从电影中辨别出来。过去,这个反派人物一直由伯吉斯·梅雷迪思(Burgess Meredith)和丹尼·德维托( Danny DeVito)等演员扮演。他们参演的版本里,企鹅人是抽烟的。在漫画里,这个角色原型经常抽着一支粗雪茄。
DC漫画人物的版权属于华纳兄弟(Warner Brothers)公司,而华纳公司2005年就宣布成为一家“反烟草”的制片公司,这在美国也是第一家。根据这个政策,华纳兄弟公司将努力减少或者消除影片中关于吸烟的镜头,以及有可能被评级为G、PG、PG-13的影片。除非涉及到文学人物或者已经确实抽烟的真实历史人物,或者基于禁烟宣传而出现的吸烟镜头。即使如此,华纳兄弟公司也将竭力减少对吸烟和烟草的描述。
《蝙蝠侠》的评级是PG-13。
华纳兄弟公司的政策并非特立独行,美国电影中的烟草镜头正面临批评和审查。最近的热播剧《怪奇物语》的后面几季就删除了警长吉姆·胡珀(Jim Hooper)的吸烟镜头。迪尼斯公司也删除了2021年上映的电影《黑白魔女库伊拉》中主角手里的香烟。
《蝙蝠侠》将在3月4日(周五)在全美上映。HBO电视网正在筹划拍摄一部关于企鹅的衍生连续剧。
附参考原文:
Batman made his comic book debut in 1939, and he has appeared on screen more than just about any other superhero, with nearly a dozen live-action films where The World’s Greatest Detective fights to keep the streets of Gotham safe. Later this week Robert Pattinson will be adopting the pointy-eared cowl of The Caped Crusader to square off with several villains in the newest take on the hero, in the film The Batman. But despite this movie having a gritty look and plenty of violence, it seems that a cigar proved too controversial to include.
Irish actor Colin Farrell plays The Penguin in the film, and lobbied unsuccessfully to have his character chomp on a cigar. Last week, during an interview on the YouTube channel Jake’s Take, Farrell was asked if his character’s familiar trappings such as the monocle, top hat and cigarette holder would ever make an appearance. The actor’s response was rather negative.
“Big studios make big decisions around such things as the presence of cigarettes in films,“ Farrell said. “I fought valiantly for a cigar. I even at one stage said, ‘I can have it unlit, just let me have it unlit.' They were like, 'No.' Like a bunch of 12-year-olds are going to start smoking Cuban cigars because of [The Penguin].”
Farrell is completely unrecognizable in the role under heavy prosthetics. In the past, the villain has been played by such stars as Burgess Meredith and Danny DeVito, and their versions included The Penguin’s familiar cigarette holder. In the comics and other media, the character has also been known to smoke a thick cigar.
Warner Brothers, the studio that holds the rights to the DC Comics characters, was the first major studio to adopt an anti-tobacco policy back in 2005. According to their policy, Warner Media states that they “endeavor to reduce or eliminate depictions of smoking and tobacco products/brands in any theatrical feature film produced and distributed in the United States that is expected to be rated “G”, “PG” or “PG-13”, unless (a) the depiction involves a character who is a literary or an actual historical figure known to have used tobacco products; (b) the depiction is otherwise warranted for reasons of compelling literary or historical accuracy; or (c) the depiction is part of a conspicuous anti-smoking reference. Even within these three categories, the Studios consider ways to reduce depictions of smoking and tobacco.”
A similar policy is also in place for R-rated films made by the studio. The Batman is rated PG-13.
Warner’s policy is not an outlier, as tobacco use in films is facing criticism and censure. Some recent examples include Netflix eliminating the smoking habit of Sheriff Jim Hooper in later seasons of the hit show "Stranger Things," and Disney snatching the cigarette (and its long holder) from the hand of the titular character in the 2021 film Cruella.
The Batman will be coming to theaters this Friday, March 4, and a spin-off series about The Penguin is reportedly in development by HBO.