Thank you for NOT smoking!

Anti-smoking activists are unleashing a major grass-roots campaign on the motion-picture industry and TV broadcasters to keep smoking out of the reach of children. Claiming that Hollywood recruits approximately 390,000 kids a year to start smoking—and provides nearly $4 billion a year in free plugs for tobacco—the “Screen Out” program calls for an R rating on movies with smoking, unless the content “clearly and unambiguously reflects the dangers and consequences of tobacco use or is necessary to represent smoking of a real historical figure”; requires producers to certify that there were no paid-for tobacco plugs in the film; demands that anti-smoking PSAs precede any film depicting tobacco use; and would no longer allow tobacco-brand identification.




As a non-smoker myself, I will not think to start smoking because I see someone smoke a cigarette in a movie or a TV show; I will just simply ignore it. However, it does not mean our children – those “vulnerable” adolescents who have not enough maturity and autonomy in decision-making would also be immune to the influence of the smoking images shown on the big as well as small screens.


In fact, Hollywood has a long history in having actors/actress smoking in the films, and the biggest drive behind-screen is the tobacco companies. There was an overall increase in the depiction of smoking in films in the 1990s which appeared to coincide directly with restrictions in advertising. As we can imagine, the actor/actress in the movie “has to smoke” not merely because the director thinks it is necessary in portraying the character, moreover it’s because the tobacco company is paying them for that. By frequently showing their product and people using the product, the companies hope to persuade more people, especially the young ones to form a favorable perspective toward smoking and further become the consumers of tobacco.

Researchers say that there is mounting evidence linking Hollywood’s depiction of smoking in movies and adolescents attitudes to smoking and their smoking behavior. But is it really the case? Will the adolescents who never smoked before start smoking only because they see it in the film or on TV? Aren’t they more likely to become smoker if their parents, older siblings, best friends or schoolmates smoke?

Maybe it’s not just “anyone” in the film or on TV; it must be their favorite stars who smoke onscreen that will be the most influential to the youngsters. I can easily hear some 14-year-olds say:” Brad Pitt’s so cute when he smokes in that movie!” Or “Look at Marilyn, I wish I could hold a cigarette just like that, so sexy.” Research has been done on showing that adolescents whose favorite movie stars use tobacco onscreen are significantly more likely to be at a more advanced stage of smoking uptake and to have more favorable attitudes towards smoking than adolescents who choose non-smoking stars.


So should we now join the “Screen Out” program and force MPAA to give an R to all the movies that contain images of smoking or tobacco? Should we eliminate all the TV shows that have people smoking from afternoons and early evenings? Or should we insulate our children from all the mediated messages showing smoking? Even if we should (as those anti-smoking activist believe), we simply can not, just like we are not able to get rid of the pornography and violence in the current media.

When the reality is in this country, one out of four people is a smoker. And since most of the films and TV shows are based on real life stories, it will be awkward and lack of credibility not to show any images related to smoking at all. However, science has proved that smoking is a dangerous habit and can cause serious health problem; we cannot ignore the possibility that certain portrayal of smoking in film and TV shows can lead to the initiation of smoking among adolescents.

A study by Pechmann 199918 suggested that young people can be “immunized” against the influences of film stars smoking by showing a strong anti-smoking advertisement before those films that contain smoking scenes.

Or maybe we should say to the Hollywood:
Thank you for NOT smoking!


Links:

Smoking Under Fire

Do Favorite Movie Stars Influence Adolescent Smoking Initiation?

Interpretations of smoking in film by older teenagers

Smoking List Movie Reviews