Again With the Non-Smoking!
Categories: News
Written By: Eric Jensen
In the ongoing and successful crusade to make smokers the last group of people it’s okay to discriminate against, the newest dose of fuel for the fire is Disney’s decision to forbid the depiction of cigarette smoking in its films and to “discourage” (read: de facto prohibition) it in films that get the company’s Touchstone or Miramax labels. In addition, any DVD releases of movies featuring cigarette smoking will have anti-smoking PSAs as a mandatory inclusion. While it is, of course, up to the heads of movie studios to make policies as they see fit, that doesn’t make this policy any less absurd and, in some ways, dangerous.
It’s important to note that smoking is the only behavior targeted by this new regulation. Drinking can slide right by; no one sees any particular problem with murder and violence; and movies with scenes depicting sexual activities will not come bundled with Trojan commercials. Why one and not these or countless others? According to Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger, “cigarette smoking is a unique problem.”
What makes it a unique problem? What makes it more of a problem than any other risky behavior? As a behavior whose health risks primarily affect only the user, why is this issue raised at all, rather than a crackdown on the mayhem and bloodshed that runs rampant across our theater screens? The reason for all this is quite simple: the anti-smoking lobby is well funded and extremely vocal. Smoking is bad for you, yes. There’ll be no argument from me on that score. But anti-smoking groups who support measures like the one Disney’s taken use skewed statistics, irrelevant information and bullyish scare tactics more often than almost any other. In this way, rather than by focusing on any pertinent facts, they’ve pushed and shoved their way to more influence than any group deserves, and Disney has kowtowed as a result.
U.S. Representative Edward Markey called Disney’s measures “groundbreaking” and the decision was praised by the president and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation, an organization whose vision is “to become the preeminent authority in tobacco prevention.” But the problem here is that this is about more than tobacco. Although Disney rep Iger says the company’s effort is “not a precedent for any other issue,” that statement is laughably naive. Of course it’s a precedent, and a dangerous one. I don’t doubt that other movie studios will soon follow suit in a misguided effort to appear forward thinking and socially conscious. Then other activist groups will see that if they just holler loud and long enough, they can impose their will on the public at large too. This opens the door for more and more behaviors and choices to be banned—and for filmmakers who wish to deal with these behaviors to have their creative expression stifled—simply because they are unpopular. Suppressing the minority simply because they are the minority is not just a bad idea, but a terrifying one.
Before you applaud Disney’s decision because you personally find cigarettes smelly and gross, think about whatever pleasures you have that others might frown upon and ask yourself where it will end. Or, in simpler terms: Disney, you can just get bent.
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