Robert Mitchum, smoking and looking cool.
According to authorities on these matters, kids that see smoking are more likely to take up smoking. No matter if the smoking is their parents, other relatives, or just smoking in films. After peaking in 2005, smoking in the movies is down a staggering 51%, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who have been working Hollywood over for years to set a better example for the children. Here’s the study in full.
Once upon a time, smoking cigarettes in movies was a code. Now I didn’t know this until I watched a documentary on films made during the heady days of the Hayes Code, but smoking in movies was a signifier of sex. That’s why so many movies would fade to black or cut to a different scene, then cut back to two fully-dressed characters sharing a puff on a cigarette. That (and some sly dialogue) implied sex in pretty much every old film.
Well, it was both a stand-in for sex and a fact of life, since everyone smoked back then (and everyone in Hollywood smoked like crazy to keep thin). I’m so glad I don’t live in those days; I’d be sick all the time thanks to the huge clouds of smoke billowing out of every bar, restaurant, and movie theater.
Tags: smoking in movies, smoking, Hollywood, entertainment, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking decreased in movies, unusual health news
