Not surprisingly, moviegoers of all ages tended to associate cigarette smoking with Glamour, vigorous youth, sexiness, wealth, and occasionally rebelliousness.
As the major adverse health effects of tobacco have become widely publicized over the past 30 years, smoking has declined both on and off the screen in the United States. Nevertheless, 43 million Americans (many of them youngsters) remain addicted to the evil weed and 450,000 a year die prematurely from it. Despite efforts to diminish the presence and discredit the allure of smoking in films, 54 percent of movies with parental guidance ratings still have smoking in their narratives.
As long as smoking is legal, it is unconstitutional to ban the practice from appearing on the silver screen. Nonetheless, films containing smoking can still be rated “R”, be preceded by anti-smoking messages, and be prohibited from displaying actual brands and receiving compensation for such actions. Many jurisdictions have adopted these measures, again with middling results in regard to discouraging smoking.
