The Rise of Smoking Scenes In Movies and TV Shows

Fuck off cigarette Nazi.

I don't watch TV, so I have no idea about that. The only time I see it in movies are indie flicks set amongst hipsters, a crime milieu or in the mid-20th century.

[quote]Ever time I go to the movies, I prepare myself for such a scene

Xanax? Something stronger? Salts for the inevitable swooning?

The smoking in "The Leftovers" is really nothing more than a way for the Guilty Remnant to constantly "show their faith." They're always smoking, so they're always thinking about what happened three years ago. It's also a way of saying that they don't care about things such as health, exercise (just like family, communication, etc). None of that stuff matters in the post-Rapture world.

You sound very unintelligent and trollish.

I am amazed that virtually every male model in the fashion industry today smokes like a chimney. This isn't 1973 when ads for the Marlboro man still influenced American cultural habits. To me it seems so trashy and cheap, the antithesis of high fashion, yet the fashion industry seems to embrace it if not encourage it. Smoking seems like such a stupid habit to take up particularly if you want to have any kind of lengthy modeling career, as nothing kills your looks faster than smoking. Although the average shelf life of most male models isn't longer than 2 years on the runway before they are replaced by the next top model, so perhaps it doesn't matter as much.

R4 is Peter Berg, typing as he sucks on Martin Barrington's cock.

I agree that "The Leftovers" is not a fair example, since the chain smoking of the members of the Guilty Remnant is a major plot point.

Dipshit at R5, models smoke because it makes them less hungry.

Were you born yesterday?

If course The Leftovers have made smoking a major plot point! Who do you think is financing a major part of the enterprise? That's what the tobacco companies do.

As for male models smoking, there's actually a Tumblr account devoted exclusively to it:

I haven't seen a rise of smoking in films/TV. In fact, it's the opposite. The most blatant example was ABC's PAN AM three years ago about the booming commercial jet age of the 1960s. It was obviously trying to capitalize on the '60s nostalgia brought forth by AMC's MAD MEN, but unlike that show, which features realistic smoking/drinking, PAN AM had zero smoking scenes. No surprise since ABC is Disney-owned and they have a stipulation against smoking. I'm not a smoker, but it's silly to base a show in a period when smoking was prevalent -- hospital waiting rooms, restaurants, airports. Hell, smoking was even allowed in planes during this time. So to show a pristine, smokeless, 1960s environment was anachronistic.

This is as good a place to ask as any: when actors are "smoking" these days, what are they really smoking? I'm assuming it's not tobacco.

R12, I believe they smoke clove cigarettes. The older actor who played "Smoking Man" in the X-Files series was an ex-heavy smoker, and he always did scenes with clove cigs.

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[quote]Sample case: The Leftovers. Every. Fucking. Episode. Always multiple smoking scenes, with no apparent point.

So what you're saying is you're an idiot?

[quote] I think it was Vincent Kartheiser who said they smell like burning garbage.

Hey! I resemble that remark!

OP, You're finding a "disturbing trend" that doesn't exist.

Smoking is virtually non-existant in TV and movies these days. The fact you're watching the handful of TV shows and movies that do still show smoking speaks more to your entertainment tastes than anything else.

Actually, OP is right, R17. Either you're not watching enough movies/TV, or you simply haven't noticed. But now that it has been brought you your attention, that may change.

Dear god I would not want to know the OP, prepare yourself for a scene of someone smoking? Mary!

They smell worse than Esther Williams' swimming pool!

It's become taboo in polite society, so of course it's been fetishized in TV and film.

People still smoke.

[quote] Sample case: The Leftovers. Every. Fucking. Episode. Always multiple smoking scenes, with no apparent point.

Fucking idiot. OP wouldn't have sense enough to pour piss out of a boot.

In Leftovers it makes perfect sense to me why a cult that emphasizes the meaninglessness of life in the wake of unexplained disaster would ritualistically take to in your face smoking.

OP, with all due respect, I would be surprised if you didn't have the imagination and intelligence to figure that out why these people smoke and how it relates to the story.

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Jessica Lange fires up on practically every episode of every season of "America Horror Story." And Sarah Paulson, Taissa Farmiga, Frances Conroy, and Emma Roberts smoke right along with her.

"Nothing kills your looks faster than smoking"

Bullshit. Unprotected exposure to the sun is far worse.

Indeed r27, the two aren't even comparable.

[quote]Ever time I go to the movies, I prepare myself for such a scene...

Wow, and I thought I had fortitude!

Honey, even if you stay out of the sun, if you keep smoking you're going to look like shit by 40.

Have you seen the new anti-smoking commercials?

That gum disease one is so gross.

I'm 49. I was a smoker. I got gum disease. This is what my mouth really looks like.....

then he pulls out his dentures and all of his teeth in front, top and bottom, are gone.

Since the entire Leftovers series is utterly boring and uninspired, it's obvious that the show runners are using product placement, half-assedly disguised as a lame plot device, to earn those blood-tainted dollars from cigarette companies. Sickening.

Hopefully, the entire thing tanks and HBO will have to kill it to save what's left of its reputation.

Product Placement.

Chim chiminy chim chiminy Chim chim cher-eese Walt Disney smoked Luckys, He now rests in peace.

Chim chiminy chim chiminy Chim chim cher-anks You'll barely see that In that film [italic]Mr. Banks[/italic]

Because there is wood In front of Tom Hanks.

[quote]If course The Leftovers have made smoking a major plot point! Who do you think is financing a major part of the enterprise? That's what the tobacco companies do.

The Leftovers is based on a book. Are you saying the tobacco companies paid him to write a book where people smoke in the hopes that it would be turned into a tv show that would feature smoking? What are you smoking

[quote] I am amazed that virtually every male model in the fashion industry today smokes like a chimney. This isn't 1973 when ads for the Marlboro man still influenced American cultural habits

People smoke because they like it.

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I remember Fran also writing that she "would never join a gym because they don't allow smoking."

Fran also advised teenagers to find illicit hobbies that last longer than most people's interest in sex.

Like cigarettes: "a vice with staying power."

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I thought I was seeing it more than usual. According to a recent study, the numbers back it up. Apparently, onscreen smoking is back to 1950s levels.

Clove cigarettes are actually worse than regular cigarettes and contain more tar, nicotine, whatever.

Being around someone smoking is a pain in the ass. Seeing it on TV or a movie screen is nothing. In short, IDGAF. It is no worse than seeing people drink or shoot up or take pills or toke on a doobie or eat like a pig.

[quote]Honey, even if you stay out of the sun, if you keep smoking you're going to look like shit by 40.

Is there any actual proof that people *look* like shit by 40 if they smoke? Or 30, as I think someone said earlier. I know many people who smoked when they were younger and look great at 40, or in their 40s - or older.

Any series or film set in almost any part of the twentieth century is being historically accurate by depicting lots of people smoking.

OP must now work for Netflix as they've added a smoking trigger warning to go along with "violence," "language" and "sex"

As a former smoker, I am surprised at how smoking is shown in so many shows.

But, what really irks me is the fake way the actors “smoke”. The just hold the smoke in their mouth and exhale rather than be authentic and actually inhale. I had mentioned this on another thread about how Hollywood gets it wrong (or something like that). I KNOW someone is going to be triggered by my response.

r46 I have noticed this and have always assumed that the actors were not smokers and could not inhale without coughing. I have smoked one cigarette in my life (stupid reason, Wayne smoked and I had the biggest crush on him). I coughed repeatedly and felt sick as a dog. Perhaps the actors not inhaling prevents the chemicals in the smoke from getting into the bloodstream?

Several years ago the big studios all implemented policies aimed at reducing smoking in films. Basically, now if a filmmaker wants to show someone smoking they have to submit paperwork explaining why it’s necessary for that particular character to smoke.

The tobacco industry pays for product placement in films and television.

Last I checked people out in the real world still smoke cigarettes.

Do you or do you NOT want movies and television to reflect the world outside your window?