Good timing for this nice piece of satire to pop up. Check it.

I expect to learn a lot here.

But these days I am hard pressed to think of any modern character on TV or movies that smokes that is seen as a hero or cool. The best example I can think of is Doc Cottle on Battlestar Galactica, which is more for comic effect.

I generally have a beef with the anti-smoking lobby because some of the things they’ve resorted to are downright bullying, they get way too much funding vs. other more urgent awareness groups like breast cancer, and because they’re the good guys they’re able to get away with a lot of downright lying in advertising and brochures because to correct them makes you look like some paid off undercover lobbyist for the tobacco industry, or some chainsmoker in denial.

On top of all of this, the more clout given the idea that ’seeing smoking = starting smoking’ just fuels every other annoying group that wants to blame video games for violence, blame porn for rape and violence, blame horror movies for murder, or any other group actively absolving any personal responsibility from anyone, turning everyone into victims, and ultimately trying to remove peoples choices.

Funny a couple days after this article a group attacks The Simpsons for promoting smoking, saying that even though the show paints it negatively, depicting it at all is somehow encouragement.

I suppose by that logic they should just stop running ‘dont drink and drive’ ads, right?

Personally, having grown up when men used to smoke in movies all the time, I’ve always thought that smoking is cool. Nowadays, there are no real men in the movies.

Real men die young.

(Do I need to mention that I don’t smoke and that I’m old?)