September 30, 2015
Stanton A. Glantz, PhD
Evidence that smoking in movies causes young people to smoke expands to Norway
Add Norway to the list of countries where there is strong, consistent evidence that onscreen smoking in movies causes young people to smoke.
Gunnar Sæbo and Ingeborg Lund from the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research, just published their paper, “Exposure to smoking in films and smoking behavior among Norwegian 15- to 20-year olds: A cross-sectional study,” which shows that, similar to other countries all over the world, Norwegian youth who see a lot of smoking in movies are about twice as likely to smoke.
It also shows that even among youth who are not yet smoking, seeing a lot of onscreen smoking increases their susceptibility to smoking, i.e., makes it more likely that they will start smoking in the future.
In addition to generally adding to the global case that smoking in movies causes youth to smoke, it shows that this effect is independent of local culture.
They also show that, like most other countries, virtually all movies with smoking are rated for youth. They also call for an “18” rating (equivalent to a US R) for movies with smoking to reduce their effect as advertisements for smoking. (Tobacco advertising has been illegal in Norway for decades.)
Comments
smoking in movies now not brand specific
I have no evidence to prove it, but it seems like certain movies go out of their way to depict generalized tobacco use and the incorporation of tobacco use into the everyday lifestyle, suggesting they were paid by Big Tobacco to do to. It used to be brand specific, such as characters displaying Marlboro boxes. Now, it's just tobacco use in general, as though we were back in the fifties.
I good example of this that I recently watched was "Sicario". This movie was a commercial for the tobacco-use lifestyle, including characters showing great relief and extreme enjoyment when finally getting to light up that long-awaited cigarette. The director even showcased closeups of one character's cigarette box, leisurely opening it, carefully removing his selected cigarette, and then lighting it with great pleasure. This tobacco use had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the storyline of the film.
I was so disgusted I walked out of the theater. This was made easier by the fact that the movie was a cinematic disaster anyway!
Dan Grassi
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