Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema & the Myth
of Cool
Instructor's Guide for College
Scene Smoking
From fashion styles to music trends, young people often emulate celebrity
behavior that they see on-screen, including the use of tobacco. In
Scene Smoking, a one-hour documentary, professionals from the
entertainment and health fields discuss real-life choices they’ve made and
what they think about the depiction of tobacco on-screen. This film brings
together some of Hollywood’s most powerful voices in a frank discussion
of artists’ rights, social responsibility, and the First Amendment.
The First Amendment protects artists’ rights—yet many artists, once they
leave school and are faced with the realities of earning a living, discover
that several outside factors influence their work. Movie studios demand
edits to ensure a certain rating, television networks issue standards and
practices guidelines dictating language and subject matter, and even Congress
regularly demands ratings that tell parents exactly what’s in a particular
film or TV show.
The video can be used in a number of different subject areas, including
film studies, directing, screen writing, media studies, acting, photography,
communications, journalism, public relations, political science, ethics,
law, public health, and health education. This guide provides college and
university professors with instructional strategies that can be used with
the video.
Page last reviewed 02/28/2007
Page last modified 02/28/2007