Smoking in the movies (2 Viewers)

[Jim Dalton]

Let me give people MY 2 pennies worth...

I don't hold it against anyone because they smoke - on screen or in real life. In fact, if I meet someone who smokes, I usually make it a point to shake their hand and thank them! Just imagine how many precious little social programs would run out of money if not for these smokers to fund them!

As far as movies go, I thought almost ANYTHING was permissible in the name of "art!" This all reeks of political correctness now invading the movie industry.

But let me see if I understand this correctly...
Film makers can glorify the life of gang members and turn low-life's like "Snoop Dog" into movie stars, thus give them legitimacy. That's OK.

Hollywood, in film and on TV, can promote promiscuous teen sex and rarely show the negative consequences of such decisions. If you have a problem with this, you're considered a prude and behind the times.

The media can fawn all over documentary film-makers who are well-known to stretch the truth (I'm being VERY kind here) and take events completely out of context and people don't have a problem with that. They just eat it up.

They can make movies where capitalism is always the enemy of people and socialism and communism are the real solutions for mankind. When in fact it is the exact opposite that is true.

But if there is smoking in a movie, all hell breaks loose and it's the end of western civilization as we know it!

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Well, I wouldn't go THAT far...

But it is off-putting, to me, anyways..

 

[Benson R]

I think there are two undisputable points here.

One, as long as people smoke in real life, there will be smoking on film.

Two, as long as people tell kids they shouldnt smoke, they will want to smoke.

My point being that even if all movies were to treat smoking as a taboo, that wouldnt necessarilly have a different effect then portraying smoking in a positive light.

 

[Adam.Heckman]

Doug:

If my memory serves, it was Marlboro Reds. And she wore a Whitesnake jean jacket. He was intimidated.

Great movie. No real cinematic value, but just fun to watch.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Tooo.. lazyyy.... can't... turn on... DVD-player...

I'll get back to you with a definative answer when I'm feeling not so lethargic.

 

[Shawn C]

I just don't like too see pretty actresses smoking. Does the non-smoking actress even exist? I thought they all used it as a form of weight control or something.

It's just a shame to know that they will all look like a used-up baseball glove and sound like Lucille Ball as they get older. And they will wonder why no one finds them sexy anymore when they are only 40.

 

[Seth Paxton]

You know what I'm sick of? Excess drinking in films, that should bump up the rating too.

I mean Bogart throws down scotch, gin, vodka, whatever like its nothing. Hell, it seems like every film from before 1965 features everyone having a bourbon or scotch on the rocks, and usually with refills, and usually without being affected by it.

I mean come on, what kind of message is that for kids?


[/sarcasm]

(they did drink a lot in older films, and still do in some today)


BTW, how great was the South Park episode where the kids had no interest in smoking until the dorky "don't smoke" people showed up. And then Rob Reiner came in an started using dubious tactics to fight cig co's too, all the while eating to a dangerous excess himself.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Shawn, that's one of the most sweeping, baseless posts I've seen in this thread thus far. You sure seem confident in your blatant generalizing.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Oh Jack, lay off! He just doesn't know yet. Ok, that came out like a one-eighty on what he said. I didn't mean it to.

It does go to show how our kids are being brainwashed, though. "If the teacher says it, it must be true."

The really sad part is that they can't be banned, BUT WE WON'T GO THERE. Anyway, I have to laugh everytime a new warning shows up on the packs. It should read, "You may be genetically predispositioned to get cancer, and smoking these may speed it up."

But they shouldn't pick on the movies. They have been slowly squishing their rights everywhere else. I find it funny when it is banned outside. I mean, if you don't like the way the air smells, can't you move? I don't go outside just to stand next to dumpsters that are behind Chinese kitchens.

And if they ever do get banned completely, alcohol will be next.

Glenn

 

[TheLongshot]

They already tried that. Doesn't work.

Jason

 

[Zen Butler]

Which, I'm assuming would be a bit different than living with a smoker in a closed phone booth.

 

[PerryD]

In a similar vein, pot smoking appears to me to be making a mainstream comeback on TV and in the movies. The new series "Jack & Bobby" has been constantly mentioning in the reviews that the mom is a casual pot smoker. I read this, and determine that this show is not meant for kids.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Yeah, I noticed that.. I blame That 70's Show..

 

[WillG]

Saw this in Page Six of the New York Post today. The second to last paragraph is especially disgusting (although it should probably come as no big surprise)

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I can't tell you the nuymber of times a 12 year old child has pleaded with their parents to watch Rebel Without a Cause while they were in line behind me at the video store.

 

[Mark Murphy]

I'm almost 100% positive that Luke Wilson said "you smoked Marlboro Reds and wore a Whitesnake jacket".

 

[George See]

Actually that's not entirely true, Jennifer Love Hewitt was forced to smoke in Heartbreakers from what I understand. Both her and Gene Hackman are/were non smokers.

On the issue as a whole though there's far more guns in movies then smoking. Guns when used have a slightly higher fatality rate I think. Plus I think a decomposing actress will smell a bit worse then a smoking actress that's my opinion of course some people may like the smell of death. A child watching an actor smoke and an actor shoot a gun should have enough parenting to know that both guns and ciggarettes are dangerous.

As for censorship I think we should censor the Drunk driving scene in It's A Wonderfull life...that's about as extreme as censoring smoking out of old movies, it shouldn't be done.

 

[Kami]

It was Marlboro Reds. I've seen Old School waaaayyy too many times.

I know a great sand guy we can get at a price.

 

[Jimi C]

I want the scene in Buffalo 66 when Billy doesn't wash his hands after using the bathroom edited out. Also, any scene where somebody picks there nose, or touches themselves inappropriately, drives over the speed limit, swears, uses drugs, litters, drinks, skips school, talks on a cell phone, drives a vehicle that doesn't meet emission standards, features a person who doesn't brush 3 times a day or just annoys somebody.

getting ridiculous, eh? good.. then point made.

If a film maker wants his film to be about smokers, thats his right. If he wants to "glorify smokers" thats also his right. You don't have to watch it, you don't have to let your children watch it. People smoke, thats life, get over it.

 

[JonZ]

"Actually that's not entirely true, Jennifer Love Hewitt was forced to smoke in Heartbreakers from what I understand. Both her and Gene Hackman are/were non smokers."

Usually, the cigarettes you see non smokers use in films arent real cigarettes.It up to the actor. Eliza Dushku and Jennifer Connelly are 2 people who did take up smoking for real after they did it during a film.

"If an actor doesn't smoke, they won't make them smoke during a scene"

I would think they would know if a character theyre playing is a smoker ahead of time.Ed Norton is a anti-smoker but agree for Fight Club. He thought the character of Jack "should" smoke, that it helped make the character work.

Funny, a very famous smoker,The Smoking Man from X-Files was a ex smoker, and used herbal cigs