Sometimes, all it takes is a small group of dedicated whatevers to do whatever.

That can be bad. Is it here? NYT reports that anti-smoking lobbyists looking out for children’s health (good, right?) are finding it pretty easy to influence what goes into G, PG and PG-13 movies.

Yet Hollywood is also waking to the realization that a committed band of advocates is rapidly changing what is permissible in the movies. And that precedent could embolden other groups campaigning to rid movies of portrayals of gun use, transfat consumption or other behavior that can be proved harmful to the public.

“It’s a chilling idea,” said Bill Condon, who wrote and directed “Dreamgirls” for the DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures units of Viacom.

General Electric, the corporate parent of Universal Pictures, decided last April that, with few exceptions, “no smoking incidents should appear in any youth-rated film” produced by the studio or its sister units, Focus, Rogue and Working Title Films.

It’s just another example like “The Path to 9/11″ and “The Reagans” — how much should small groups be able to influence what goes on the air? I mean, hey, I’m opposed to smoking, but the Hays Code was crappy.

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