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Last week, we asked what our readers thought about the smoking scenes in the 3D Avatar and in movies in general.
Jump to full article: Vietnam News Agency (VNA), 2010-02-06
Intro:
Is the botanist character considered an icon or sex symbol to the thousands of young impressionable Avatar fans? Are movie-goers racing out to light up their first cigarettes after seeing Dr Grace in action? I doubt it.
in the late 20th century and certainly the first ten years of the 21st, the health implications of smoking are well known. Also well known are the skilful ways in which tobacco companies, in many countries of the world denied the opportunity to advertise their product, are using opportunities such as product placement to maintain the profile of smoking in general and, if possible, to promote specific brands.
What makes a multi-billion dollar global company promote a product that is responsible for 5 million deaths per year? It remains to be asked of the film's director and producers, among the many questions about style, technology, ground-breaking effects, science-fiction story lines and exceptional make-up skills: how much money were they paid to place this ludicrous but deadly harmful event – harmful to real people, not fictional movie characters – in their film?
Even in the most sophisticated, educated rich countries like the UK and the US, people smoke and there were ads and TV ads, so really education and awareness is a key way to tackle this problem compared to censorship.
Finally Avatar is set many years in the future. As to whether there will still be smoking bans in the workforce then I couldn't say!
Vietnamese smokers don't follow the rule in public. They smoke everywhere, all the time... It's a big problem not only for non-smokers but also smokers.
The present policy of Viet Nam is suitable one. How about increasing the price of tobacco such as in the US, Singapore, Japan? In Japan, the number of smokers has decreased because of the price of tobacco and the decrease in the number of places where people can smoke in public. How about adding terrible photos of lung cancer, pharyngeal cancer caused by smoking on the package such as in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia?
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