Do Movies Cause Smoking? Snuffing out Another Nanny State Myth
Sullum, Jacob, Reason
IN THE 2005 movie The Jacket, Kelly Lynch plays a drunk who burns to death after falling asleep while smoking. According to the activists who object to cinematic smoking, Lynch's character is part of an insidious plot to lure children into the habit by making it seem cool and glamorous.
The movie research cited by anti-smoking activists typically defines pro-tobacco messages broadly enough to include all instances of smoking, actual or implied, along with discussions of tobacco and glimpses of cigarette logos, lighters, or ashtrays. A new study takes a more discriminating approach, looking at the behavior and characteristics of the leading characters in 447 popular films released since 1990 and comes to some rather different …
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Publication information:
Article title: Do Movies Cause Smoking? Snuffing out Another Nanny State Myth.
Contributors: Sullum, Jacob - Author.
Magazine title: Reason.
Volume: 37.
Issue: 6
Publication date: November 2005.
Page number: 64+.
© 2009 Reason Foundation.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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