[forgottenpass]

Your point only holds as long as "arbitrary censorship" is tautologically defined as the types of censorship that would cause people to stop trusting the MPAA. And not only stop trusting them, but actively distrust them so much that retailers and theaters were economically incentived to not even humor the uptight busybodies that demand a censorship system.

Given that the MPAA already bumps a movie up to at least PG-13 for drug use, I wouldn't find it incongruous for them to treat cigarettes in a similar fashion.

If someone considers the Orgasmo/South Park case study, or many of the others in This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006), I don't know how they would come away with an assessment that the MPAA doesn't already engage in arbitrary censorship (unless they were to agree with Matt Stone's more serious accusation that the MPAA is an economic cartel).