Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema & the Myth of Cool

I just got this at the library and I was dreadfully disappointed with it. From the box, it sounded like it was going to analyze smoking in film, but it merely pushed an anti-smoking, and ultimately, pro-censorship position. This is little more than a piece of the same propaganda one would receive in a high school health class. I was pleasantly surprised that Sean Penn, someone I had assumed would be all for the PC-ification of the film industry, was calling the filmmakers on their real motives. I was even further surprised that the filmmakers, who were so obviously for the censorship of film and free speech, would leave his comments in the film. While this, and a few other people interviewed, were allowed to voice their opinion, the good majority of the film was comprised of (literally) anti-smoking commercials, anti-smoking facts, and people who were peripherally involved in the film industry voicing their anti-smoking opinions. This film had very little to do with cinema at all. In fact, none of the scenes they use to show how un-cool smoking supposedly is weren't from actual films but appeared to be stock footage or from commercials.

In my opinion, this is a very educational special which depicts one reason teenagers may start smoking. I must say that seeing it on TV and in movies is absolutely one reason why they might. This is absolutely true for teenage girls. When I heard this, I was really shocked. This was because I figured out that most people who smoke took their first puff when they were teenagers. I can relate to this special very well. This is because some people in my family smoke. In conclusion, if you have children, I strongly recommend that you sit them down and have a detailed conversation with them about the dangers of tobacco and other drugs. It's very, very bad for your health.