Old Movies

[forestgreen]

I was just scrolling through the website and read two topics regarding difficulty in obsessing with thoughts of smoking. I don't know what it's like in other countries, but in Australia they have a huge amount of old movies every week, some of these were great old masterpieces, others not so much. Throughout these repeats, were people (movie stars) smoking in various environments and in various conditions.

 

I wonder if the Tobacco Companies, have a monopoly on this inadvertently reminder, (advertising)  and what it says to our young people.  "It is cool to smoke" was and still is the message. It is difficult when the obsessing is a visual act put up on the screen for everyone to see. My thoughts are Why does the Cancer Council allow these movies to be run over and over again? Do they have any say in this? and is there any sway to ban the old movies with only the smoking aspect which represent the attitude of normality. Does it put people off (like me) or do they remind others that they used to smoke  and sets up the nostalgia of our memories connected to smoking?

 

Our thoughts are re enforced with images, and feelings,. Going back in time is not always a comforting feeling. Being in the present is the only way to move forward at times.  

[jillar]

When I smoked seeing someone on a movie smoking didn't faze me. But AFTER I smoked I was surprised at just how much I noticed it

[abbynormal]

I recently re-watched (for the 100th time) the movie De-Lovely, which spans several decades beginning in the 1920s. And the characters in the film are smoking almost CONSTANTLY. The one thing that keeps it from being too glamorized is the fact that one of the principal characters dies of emphysema. But still...it shows the prevalence of smoking as part of the culture of the times. I'm glad that this isn't as much the case today!

[johnny5]

Good post and I am coming at this from an American perspective.

 

I started smoking back in the mid '90's when I was in college and one movie that came out at that time that was big with me and my friends was Pulp Fiction.  I loved that movie and still do but they smoke a ton in that film.  I don't think that had an influence in me starting to smoke but it definitely glamorized smoking to the point that I wasn't thinking about quitting then.

 

I do think a lot of older films and TV programs were in some way supported by tobacco companies.  There are infamous commercials from the 1960's children's cartoon The Flintstones endorsing Winston cigarettes.  There are other examples too of family friendly programming from that time that endorse smoking in some way.

 

I do feel that there has been a push towards taking smoking out of programs today.  Supposedly Netflix is working on taking smoking out of a lot of their future original content.  Also, the movie rating system today considers smoking to be a reason to rate a movie PG-13 or R.

 

Still, I realize smoking was a big part of culture in the past and I don't think it should be cut out if it is meant to depict how things were during a certain time.  

 

Tough issue and I'm not sure what the answer is.  I am not pro-censorship but at the same time I hate to see smoking (and, nowadays, vaping) glamorized to a younger generation.

[forestgreen]

Ah! that "old expression you never knew how much you missed it till it was gone" I was just wondering whether those people who thought they were obsessing, were in fact going over old times in a more nostalgic way. At the moment, I am obsessing about food, it's difficult to start lowering your intake, when Christmas is just around the corner. I think Sazerac mentioned H.A.L.T. a few weeks ago, I have been practicing this more now, and only eat when I am hungry. .This could be useful for those that are finding it difficult to stop obsessing with difficult thinking.  it might not be the urge to smoke but the urge for something else in the past. 

 

Just a thought 

[notsmokinjo]

I don't think I overly noticed smoking on the screen when I smoked, although in a long movie it would leave me hangin for a durry. 

When I first quit I was shocked at the amount of onscreen smoking...and it pushed a lot of buttons. I still notice it but it's not the trigger it was. I think, in some movies it needs to be there for historical accuracy...not smoking in the trenches would be bullshit...now as a mum of a teen I asked the kid for her opinion...she's my kid, she's Gunna have some .. so we chatted and she said...

1. I don't like seeing smoking because it makes people look ugly and stupid. (Gee thanks kid, I look ugly and stupid?....you used ta, but not now.)

2. (She has grown up in a time where you can't even smoke in outdoor cafes here) I get angry when I see people smoking at work and in shops and resteraunts, that's so stupid. Why did they used to let people do that. Everywhere must have just smelled bad.

3. Smoking is something lots of people did in the olden days (sorry peeps, that's the 1980s back according to the kid) when they were stupid and didn't know how bad it was.

4. Only the badies smoke now, or the dumb ones in movies unless they are olden days movies (war flicks or similar). Olden movies should have smoking cos it's what people did. 

5. People shouldn't be smoking in zombie shows cos all the factories are closed and surely all of the smokes have run out by now....and who is mowing the lawns?

6. Viking shows are good cos they don't smoke.

 

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by notsmokinjo

[forestgreen]

Exactly because its just what people did in those days, just like your daughter says the knowledge wasn't there, but it doesn't mean they are stupid.or dumb. Some people (even young people) have images of their heros in there head depending on what they watch in Life or TV. My own personal image of a role model (at a young age) was in the musicals if I was watching TV. I didn't follow sport much but the Tobacco Companies had a ball in the advertising of Cigarettes at Football Stadiums. How many role models did you see then running past a huge advertisement for smoking.   This does influence our young or even older people. If it didn't then they would continue to advertise in every big football game in Australia, which has big bucks involved. People like me who don't follow the sporting community either Live or on TV wouldn't care what they did for promotion, but some people would get mighty mad at draping the fences with Ads instead of their favorite football bannners.