Everyone knows how bad smoking is for you. We are constantly bombarded with statistics and horror stories, but people still smoke.
I think that there is a very funny scene from the first series of 'Green Wing' that shows the effectiveness of government health warnings. Boyce & Rachel are out side for a fag break. They both look at the 'warning' on their cigarette packets. Boyce's says 'may lower sperm count' & Rachel's says 'may cause miscarriage'. They swap packets, stamp out the cigarette they were smoking & light one from the new packet. That basically says it all.
chickenhead.com/truth is a very interesting website with a collection of cigarette/tobacco/cigar adverts from 1940's and 1950's America. Most of the claims and seem very silly when you read them, but the obviously worked in, what is referred to as, 'the Age of Innocence'.
The NHS have produced some quite disturbing and upsetting anti smoking adverts. Including the pictures of children passively inhaling smoke and an interview with throat cancer patient and smoker Anthony Hicks, who died just days after it was filmed. And the more recent images of people with fish hooks stuck in their mouths, which are certainly not for the faint hearted. I know those images will always haunt a part of me.
Smoking and Fantasy Sex Appeal
I'm not gonna deny it, smoking can be very, very sexy. In fantasy land anyway... The lone stranger standing sulkily, drenched in shadow, one foot against the wall, hand on hip, puffing away without a care in the world is sexy. However, in reality smokers taste bad, smell bad and there's not much sexy about sucking on a little stick.
Think about all the 'bad ass' characters you've seen in films, the majority of them are shown at some point smoking. If they didn't they wouldn't have the same bad boy/bad girl appeal. And then there are the underlying connotations between smoking and phallic characteristics. Especially cigars, and especially when women are smoking them. There can also be an air of class in smoking, think 1920's siren with a fur draped around her shoulders and a long cigarette holder in her hand, sipping champagne.
Finally
In the words of Eric Draven - 'You shouldn't smoke these. They'll kill you.'
1 comment:
Throat cancer often develops from squamous cells on the mucosal surfaces of the larynx, pharynx or mouth. Smoking cigarettes and drinking large quantities of alcohol can increase a person's risk for developing throat cancer. Head and neck cancers account for about 5 percent of cancers in the United States. Throat cancers usually develop around age 60, and men are 10 times more likely to develop them than women. http://www.chantixhome.com/
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