Hollywood’s burning issue
Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 12:18 Enjoyable piece in the Telegraph by Alexander Larman:
Surprisingly, perhaps, it includes one or two quotes by me, but I’m in good company because there are also quotes from ‘film scholar’ Lucy Bolton and ‘lifestyle and cultural journalist’ Kara Kennedy.
To be honest, it was one of the more enjoyable exercises I’ve been asked to do recently, and a welcome respite from thinking about government consultations.
Alex sent me half a dozen questions and these were my replies, from which he took a few comments:
Do you believe that the contemporary portrayal of smoking in cinema is more pervasive – and more positive – than it has been for many years?
I’m not a regular cinema goer but I would be very surprised if the portrayal of smoking in films has become more pervasive, and more positive, in recent years. I may be wrong but in my experience you would be hard-pressed to find many leading characters who smoke in any top 10 box office movie. Nevertheless, if directors of more adult orientated movies are pushing back against attempts to censor their work by denying them the creative freedom to portray smoking on screen, I would welcome it. Smoking in films should never be gratuitous, but if it’s character or plot driven, and reflects the real world, what’s the problem?
Why do you think that so many major 2022-2023 films contain scenes of nicotine and tobacco use?
I haven’t watched enough films during that period so I’m not qualified to comment, but is this true? It sounds like the sort of claim the anti-smoking lobby would make to justify a crackdown on smoking in movies. If it is true, and I remain sceptical, perhaps there have been more major films in that period featuring adult themes. Smoking, lest we forget, is still a perfectly normal habit for millions of people, and art, including commercial cinema, has a right to reflect real life and the world around us, not some utopian smoke free world forced upon us by politicians and public health activists. There are 1.3 billion smokers worldwide so why not represent some of them on screen?
Cinema used to be associated with portraying smoking as glamorous and exciting. When do you believe that this ended?
Was smoking ever portrayed as glamorous and exciting? You’ve got to remember that in the mid 20th century, in the heyday of Hollywood, smoking was completely normal. At one point 80% of men smoked, and almost 50% of women. It’s only now that we look back and think that smoking, as portrayed on film at that time, was glamorous, or exciting, or even a bit rebellious, because we compare it with our own more censorious and risk averse age. Back then, however, smoking was embraced by every generation and every social class. In fact, it was arguably one of the most egalitarian habits the world has ever witnessed.
Do you think that major stars being associated with smoking makes it seem more exciting for impressionable audiences?
Not really. Most people are clever enough to distinguish between an actor and the role they are playing on screen, so talk of “impressionable audiences” is rather patronising. And if the major star is a smoker in real life, it has nothing to do with anyone else. They’re actors working in what I imagine can be very stressful industry. They didn’t ask to be role models, nor should they be, so leave them alone!
Which actors do you believe could bring back smoking into the mainstream if they were to be associated with it onscreen?
I don’t believe any actor has the power to bring smoking back into the mainstream. Audiences aren’t stupid. They know about the health risks of smoking. They also know that actors are playing a role, not themselves. The idea that a significant number of cinema goers might be persuaded to start smoking by the sight of an actor playing a character who smokes is laughable. There are many reasons why a dwindling number of people choose to smoke. Watching an actor, even a well-known one, light up on screen is unlikely to be one of them.
What are your personal views on smoking?
I don’t smoke but I have known many people who do, or did, and the overwhelming majority enjoyed the habit, which I respect. Other people smoking never bothered me. If adults make an informed choice to smoke, knowing the health risks, good luck to them. It’s their life, not mine, so I wouldn’t presume to comment, or lecture them, just as I wouldn’t expect them to comment on the fact that I am significantly overweight and risking my own health by eating too much of the ‘wrong’ food.
Do you believe that smoking will ever return to its previous popularity or have we passed that stage forever?
Smoking will never be history, but unless we invent a completely ‘safe’ cigarette I can’t imagine it will ever return to its previous popularity. There are two reasons for this. One, there are too many restrictions on the sale and consumption of combustible tobacco, most of which are unlikely to be reversed. Two, we know so much more about the health risks associated with smoking than we did 50 or 60 years ago, and that has obviously influenced recent generations not to start smoking. I can’t see that changing.
Smoking, I added, will never go away completely because it remains an enjoyable habit for many people. Also, given that it’s human nature to experiment, some people will always be drawn to forbidden fruit. That’s just a fact. Get over it.
Reader Comments (2)
Hi Simon, I just read the article and was really pleased to see you were consulted at all let alone your comments being allowed to 'be what they were'. Nice to read something non judgemental but no surprise at the Po-faced ASH response.
Have a super Christmas and hope to see you at an event soon, I was really sorry to miss the last one, looks like it was a great success. 🙂
Thanks - we missed you but judging by your Facebook photos you had a great holiday! Happy Christmas!