"Just sent this complaint to the BBC," writes 'Bob'. "Wonder what your opinion is?"
I am tearing my hair out about the gratuitous use of smoking in [the] programmes Perfect Sense and The Hour, broadcast this week. Perfect Sense frequently had the two main protagonists smoking in a positive, alluring and attractive way, a common and cheap device used by directors, but against the tide of opposition to smoking in 'real' society.
I was flabbergasted to see it was made in 2011, so much was it like the programmes of the 70's and before in their ignorance of the dangers of smoking. When I heard on the news the next day that sainsburys were stopping selling cigarettes in their stores and a health report suggested that lung cancer will DOUBLE in the coming years (with women twice as likely to suffer from it), it made the programme seem even more antiquated and inappropriate.
Coincidentally I stumbled upon the BBC2 latest offering The House and ... yes strong/attractive and alluring leading characters smoking in a natural and 'cool' way. I can see some logic here given the era context, but WHY, given the statistics shown above, choose to depict smoking in such a way, other than once again a clumsy attempt at 'realism', contextualisation or atmospheric effect.
What amazes me is how bankrupt imaginatively and bereft of the concept the effect of the depiction of smoking on TV has (directly and subliminally) the directors/editors have. Producing TV romanticising smoking seems like a throwback to the 50's? Maybe supporting the smoking lobby is the next BBC scandal?
If I get a moment I'll respond but I'd be interested to hear your comments too.