A cigarette in hand onscreen is just a gun aimed at a kid (give me a break alert)

Mpls (red)Star Tribune / NY Times ^ | 8/12/02 | Joe Eszterhas

[Valin]

CLEVELAND -- I've written 14 movies. My characters smoke in many of them, and they look cool and glamorous doing it.

Smoking was an integral part of many of my screenplays because I was a militant smoker. It was part of a bad-boy image I'd cultivated for a long time -- smoking, drinking, partying: rock 'n' roll.

[weegee]

Old joke told by a grandparent referring to a visit by their grandchildren:

"I love it when the grandchildren come over to visit. It brings such a smile to my face. My smile gets even bigger when they leave."

[robertpaulsen]

"How many of them (films) are even available to kids.."

True, his screenplays are rated R and NC-17 and are not to be viewed by "a 12-or 14-year-old". Then why not permit the characters on screen to smoke?

And if these kids are exposed to actors smoking, then they're exposed (literally) to all the rest. This is good? He is glamorizing more than smoking in his screenplays.

Keep in mind that is already illegal for "a 12-or 14-year-old" to puchase cigarettes. It is not as though society condones smoking by this group -- it's not kids smoking on the screen. How much clearer can the message be? Smoking is legal for adults only.

[weegee]

Calling Joe Camel a cartoon character conceeds a part of the argument to the left. There never were any Joe Camel comics. There was never any storyline of any type in the Joe Camel ads. He might have been posed playing pool or with musicians, or in a car or whatever but never was there any story or gag.

Forget about having to prove/justify that not all cartoons/comics are for kids, the language used by the left to frame the argument is clearly designed to weaken any counter arguments.

I've seen an anti-smoking documentary that showed some clips from old cigarette ads but didn't place them in context. Through countless reruns, The Flintstones became a daytime cartoon rerun but originally it was a prime time broadcast sponsored by Winston Cigarettes. I've seen one of the Flintstones Winston Cigarettes ads. There were also Flintstones ads for One A Day Vitamins. There was even an industrial sales pitch film (20-30 minutes) for a brewery hosted by Fred Flinstone (never intended for a young audience). Mr. Magoo did ads for Stag Beer. Many ads in the 1950s and 1960s were animated. It doesn't mean that the intended audience was kids.

Yeah, it is hard to take it from Hollywood when they say that cigarettes in movies inspire impressionable young minds (and that studios court commercial businesses to pay for product placement in movies to improve their sales) and yet any talk of harming society with violence, foul language, promiscuous sex, aberant sex, etc. has no impact on the audience.

[weegee]

Wonder what Joe thinks of this:

[corkoman]

Joe is sucha dolt - can you imagine Joe of today trying to force Joe of 30 years ago not to smoke?? Young Joe would have blown smoke in Old Joe's face and told him to piss off.

But Old Joe now thinks that folks should not be given the freedom to make bad decisions. Young Joe made bad decisions; Old Joe must live and die with them. Thats freedom baby!

[John O]

Hollywood films have long championed ... gay rights ....
Hollywood films espouse a belief in goodness and redemption.

Serious contradiction in these two sentences.

Of course being from hollyweird this guy probably supports murdering unborn babies and the democrat party too

God Save America (Please)

[Billthedrill]

This is the "it's hurt me so in order to make myself feel better I'm going to get it banned for everyone" syndrome we see in a lot of people in anti-gun campaigns, product safety campaigns, etc, etc...I suppose it's a natural enough reaction, but it kind of makes life a bit hard on those of us who don't think their lives ought to be at the mercy of somebody's feelings.

[weegee]

The lefties in Hollywood don't entirely subscribe to the "it hurt me so I'll ban it for everyone" concept.

Many people in Hollywood (onscreen and behind the scenes) have died of AIDS but I haven't heard of an outcry from Hollywood to close bath houses (where public sex occurs) or end promiscuity.

[realpatriot71]

I'm with you my friend . . .

[Great Dane]

This cracks me up. People around here get all indignant when Hollywood puts sex and other illegal drugs into movies, but when someone suggestz that maybe cigarettes are bad in movies too? Katie bar the door 'cause we're pi$$ed now! As we all know cigarettes are GREAT for ya, right after brocolli, on the chart . . . see?

Same old nonsense from you, we don't subscribe to this, but if the nannies are going to say it makes kids smoke, then I say ban all movies, just look at all the rape, murder, war and what have you....... who knows if we didn't have movies, we may have a placid peaceful world, Stepford wives comes to mind again.

[RichInOC]

If Joe thinks a cigarette in a movie is a gun pointed at the audience...then what would he call what Sharon aimed at them?

[dennisw]

Fri Aug 9,10:36 AM ET

Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, is shown in this September 21, 1995 file photo in Los Angeles. Eszterhas, best known for 1992's "Basic Instinct" script, has throat cancer after a lifetime of smoking, and is urging Hollywood to stop glamorizing cigarette use the way he says he did. (AP Photo/Michael Caulfield, file)

[ohioman]

I took up smoking at 22. Also, the Goverment will never make smoking illegal as it would cost way too much money in lost "sin" taxes.

[realpatriot71]

I never took the position I was against cigarettes in movies smart guy

[weegee]

Looks like he could be Chelsea's older brother. Anyone have a copy of that photo of Web Hubbel with his daughter Chelsea's hair???

[Valin]

A fantasy?