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Movie Character Smoking and Adolescent Smoking: Who Matters More, Good Guys or Bad Guys?  

METHODS: A longitudinal, random-digit-dial telephone survey of 6522 US adolescents was performed with movie exposure assessed at 4 time points over 24 months. Adolescents were asked whether they had seen a random subsample of recently released movies, for which we identified smoking by major characters and type of portrayal (divided into negative, positive, and mixed/neutral categories). Multivariate hazard regression analysis was used to assess the independent effects of these exposures on the odds of trying smoking. . . .

CONCLUSIONS: Character smoking predicts adolescent smoking initiation regardless of character type, which demonstrates the importance of limiting exposure to all movie smoking. Negative character portrayals of smoking have stronger impact on low risk-taking adolescents, undercutting the argument that greater exposure is a marker for adolescent risk-taking behavior.

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• GUS: Romancing The Smoke 

GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or even thinking of quitting, please -- join us! . . .

most of us grew up in a world where smoking was much more common than it is today. In my earliest childhood memories (I'm a Kennedy Administration baby, a child of the Mad Men era) it seemed that everyone smoked (in reality, it was around 45% back in the day) - just something grown-ups did.

But when some people did it - movie stars, artists, writers, and musicians, those creative rebels with or without a cause - smoking took on a certain aura of glamour. Smoking was cool. We saw images of smoking everywhere, and internalized it all like the good consumers of popular culture we are.

Even now, in a country where only about 20% of the adult population still smokes, smokers are disproportionately represented on TV and films. A lot of actors and musicians smoke; virtually every model does. I can't even tell you how many journalists, artists and writers smoke as if their next deadline, commission, or typed word depended upon it. I know I sure used to! . . .

Musicians like Fred "Sonic" Smith (died at 45) and Joe Strummer (died at 50), whose smoking aggravated underlying heart conditions. Lots of wonderful voices silenced: Mary Wells, Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys, the incomparable Sarah Vaughn, Duke Ellington and Eddie Kendrick (the sweetest voice in The Temptations lineup).

Creatives like choreographer Bob Fosse, who smoked 4 packs a day until he dropped dead of a heart attack, and band leader Spike Jones, whose famous 5-pack-a-day habit led to the Emphysema that killed him at 53. Writers like T.S. Eliot, Ian Fleming and Lillian Hellman. Chain-smoking Twilight Zone writer and host Rod Sterling and Director John Houston. Journalists like Edward R. Murrow, Chet Huntley, Peter Jennings and Harry Reasoner. A gazillion actors and actresses and icons of the stage and screen.

Even non-smokers weren't spared: Dana Reeve (a cabaret performer) and Andy Kaufman (a comedian) both died of lung cancer most likely caused by second-hand smoke from the clubs they played, a reminder that smokers don't only hurt themselves.

As Gussack dangoch pointed out, it's dangerous to "romance the smoke" - to remember it as something wonderful, transcendent, a panacea for all the things that stress you out, or the only friend who never lets you down.

Fact is, it DOES let you down, a lot, in a whole lot of ways. . . .

things in the rear-view mirror are not as wonderful as they seem, and sometimes, they bite you in the ass.

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• Both good/bad movie characters who smoke influence teens to do the same 

Dartmouth researchers have determined that movie characters who smoke, regardless of whether they are "good guys" or "bad guys," influence teens to try smoking. The study, published in the July 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics, is titled "Adolescent Smoking: Who Matters More, Good Guys or Bad Guys?"

"Previous studies have confirmed a link between smoking in movies and the initiation of smoking by adolescents, and we wanted to dig deeper into the data to see if the type of character who is smoking matters. Is it 'good guys' or 'bad guys' that have more of an influence?" said Susanne Tanski, the lead author on the study, and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School. "It's true that 'bad guys' are more often smokers in the movies, but there really are not that many 'bad guys' compared to 'good guys'. Episode for episode, youth who saw negative character smoking were more likely to start smoking, but since overall there is so much more exposure to 'good guy' smoking, the net effect is similar."

The survey also revealed that low-risk teens, based on sensation-seeking behavior, are more strongly influenced by "bad guy" movie smoking. "This suggests that it's alluring for 'good' kids to emulate the 'bad' characters on the movie screen," said Tanksi.

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Views sought on smoking in films 

Liverpool residents and local businesses are to be consulted on a proposal which would see new films which show characters smoking given an 18 rating in the city.

The proposed classification would mean that films which depict images of tobacco smoking would only be regarded as suitable for adult viewing. The move is being proposed by Liverpool Primary Care Trust.

This proposal would not apply to films which portray historical figures who actually smoked and those which provide a "clear and unambiguous portrayal of the dangers of smoking, other tobacco use, or second-hand smoke".

It would also not change the classification of old films which have scenes of people smoking.

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• Merseyside | Smoking actors 'to be rated 18' 

Films featuring characters who smoke could soon be handed an automatic 18 rating while showing in Liverpool.

Liverpool Primary Care Trust (PCT) wants young people banned from exposure to smoking actors because of research suggesting they influence children.

An estimated 5,300 under-18s smoke in Liverpool, half of whom were influenced by films, the PCT claimed.

If the policy is approved, the council could enforce 18 classifications under the Licensing Act 2003.

The city council has stressed a decision is yet to be made, and people in the city have been urged to engage in a consultation, which starts in August.

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• Film ad provokes HK anti-smokers 

A poster for a film about Coco Chanel that features the French fashion legend smoking a cigarette might break Hong Kong laws on tobacco advertising.

The advert for "Coco Before Chanel" shows the film's star Audrey Tautou in silk pyjamas with Chanel's trademark cigarette dangling from her fingers.

Although banned in Paris, France, it has appeared across Hong Kong.

But a campaign group, Clear the Air, alleges the poster breaks Hong Kong's increasingly strict anti-smoking laws.

Smoking airbrushed

James Middleton, chairman of the anti-tobacco committee for campaign group Clear the Air, said the poster breaks Hong Kong laws banning any mention of smoking or cigarettes in advertising.

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Twilight Stars Quit! 

Ashley Greene and Nikki Reed of the Twilight cast have committed to quit smoking to provide better role models for their young fans.

Good!!!!!

According to a source, the girls "know they are role models for little kids… If there are a ton of paparazzi photos of them smoking, that's not a positive image."

The girls are using SmokeStiks to quit, which "look like those fake cigarettes actors use in plays," but contain no smoke or tobacco.

Which begs the question: How much does that actually help?

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Ashley Greene: Quitting Smoking 

Miss Green is teaming up with her costar Nikki Reed to quit smoking in an effort to be a better role model for her young fans.

An insider told press that Ashley and Nikki "know they are role models for little kids… If there are a ton of paparazzi photos of them smoking, that's not a positive image."

The "New Moon" gals are relying on the help of SmokeStiks in their effort to quit, and with their mutual support they just may kick the habit.

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VIDEO: Raw: "Twilight" Star's Smoking Hot  

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• Ashley Greene and Nikki Reed Quit… Smoking 

Ashley Greene and Nikki Reed are doing their bit to be better role models for their young fans — they’ve given up smoking.

The Twilight stars — Ashley, 22, and Nikki, 21 — have ditched the nasty habit in a bid to set a positive example to their teenage followers.

“Everyone on the cast smokes, and they are all trying to quit because they are on Twilight and know they are in the public eye,” an insider told E! News. . . .

The girls are ditching the cigs by using something called “SmokeStiks.”

“SmokeStiks look like those fake cigarettes actors use in plays,” says a tester. “There’s no smoke; it just lights up when you puff.”

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[Ashley Greene and Nikki Reed] know they are role models for little kids. If there are a ton of paparazzi photos of them smoking, that’s not a positive image.
Unnamed insider on why the tween-fave "Twilight" stars are trying (if in a weird way) to quit smoking. Maybe there really is a sea change going on. . .

• Anti-tobacco group flays minister's stand  

An anti-tobacco group, the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE), has taken strong objection to union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's recent statement that there was nothing wrong in showing smoking scenes in movies.

Speaking to IANS Saturday, NOTE general secretary Subhash Salkar said the organisation has appealed to Azad to 'change his views', as cigarettes smoking by film stars on celluloid encouraged their fans to take up smoking in real life.

'It is well known that our film stars have a large number of fans among youths who would copy and imitate the actions of their heroes without giving a thought to the consequences of their actions. This fact is established through surveys of tobacco use and contradicts the view expressed by the minister,' Salkar said.

Speaking at a function in New Delhi on May 31 Azad had said restrictions on showing smoking on screen were not practical.

'It is just entertainment. There are so many objectionable things which are shown on screen like murder, arson and so on... such things should be banned first. I think we should try to implement whatever we can. We cannot do anything which is not practical. Such things (banning of smoking and drinking on screen) are very difficult. Cinema is just to enjoy,' Azad said.

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Students make statement about smoking in movies 

Several North Country high school students helped make a statement in New York City about smoking in movies.

They were among more than 200 high schoolers demanding that major motion picture studios eliminate smoking and other tobacco imagery from youth-rated movies.

One of those attending last weekend's demonstration was Alaina Mallette, a senior at General Brown.

She's also a member of Reality Check, an anti-smoking movement sponsored by the state Department of Health. Ms. Mallette says Hollywood is paying only lip service to the problem of movie promotion of smoking.

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As movies portray fewer smokers, fewer teens light up  

Blockbuster movies are less likely to portray smokers than they have in the past, according to a new study. What's more, this decline in on-screen smoking may have occurred in tandem with a drop in the number of adolescents who have lit up in real life.

Teenage smoking and the number of smoking scenes in movies have declined, according to a study.

While the study can't prove that one is related to the other, the findings would seem to support what critics have long said: Smoking by glamorous (or even not-so-glamorous) people on the silver screen is like free advertising for cigarettes. . . .

* Critics say showing smoking in movies is free advertising for cigarettes

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• As Movies Portray Fewer Smokers, Are Fewer Real-Life Teens Lighting Up?  

Blockbuster movies are less likely to portray smokers than they have in the past, according to a new study. What’s more, this decline in on-screen smoking may have occurred in tandem with a drop in the number of adolescents who have lit up in real life.

While the study can’t prove that one is related to the other, the findings would seem to support what critics have long said: Smoking by glamorous (or even not-so-glamorous) people on the silver screen is like free advertising for cigarettes. . . .

“Reducing smoking in movies probably helped to reduce rates of smoking in kids,“ says study author James D. Sargent, MD, a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and the codirector of the Cancer Control Research Program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center, both in Lebanon, N.H. “We are on the right track aiming at movies, yet half of movies still contain smoking and more work needs to be done.” . . .

If you want to know what movies do or do not portray smoking, check out this list of films (including current releases and DVDs) provided by Smoke Free Movies.

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影视“清屏”运动连连发力 

一周来，荧屏“清屏举措”连连———继央视传出消息，广电总局将禁播所有30集以上剧集以预防“注水影视”后，5月31日，中国消费者协会乘世界无烟日之际，特别呼吁整顿“烟草影视”，减少吸烟镜头。

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