The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #65718

Susan C Russell, EdD, MSPH, CHES, Health Communications Branch, Consultant, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Office on Smoking & Health, 1641 Santa Rosa Avenue, Glendale, CA 91208, 818 549 9823, sdg8@cdc.gov

In this interactive session, an interdisciplinary program for high school and college/university students addressing tobacco use depiction in film and television, the First Amendment, social responsibility and artist’s rights will be shared. The award-winning documentary film, Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema and the Myth of Cool (a STARS project of the American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails and Los Angeles County) will be viewed, instructional and evaluation strategies from the Teacher’s guides will be discussed and practiced. The First Amendment protects artists’ rights – yet many artists faced with the realities of earning a living discover that several factors will influence their work. Movie studios demand edits to ensure a certain rating, television networks issue standards & practices guidelines dictating language and subject matter, and Congress regularly demands ratings that tell parents what’s in a particular film or TV show. However, there is compelling evidence that initiation of cigarette smoking correlates to the number of viewed movie scenes with tobacco use, and this trend parallels movies that increasingly show protagonists who smoke. In Scene Smoking, some of the entertainment industry’s most powerful professionals discuss choices they’ve made and what they think, using tobacco depiction as a focus. Because the cigarette is arguably the most popular prop of all time, does Hollywood bear any responsibility for the more than 440,000 deaths a year attributed to smoking?

Learning Objectives:

Participants will:
• Receive (and review) a copy of the high school and the college/university teacher guides.
• View the film, Scene Smoking, Cigarettes, Cinema and the Myth of Cool.
• Actively participate in teaching/learning activities identified in the teaching guides.
• Dialog about the effect of tobacco depiction in motion pictures and television.
• Discuss issues of constitutional rights and freedoms and their influence on the production of film.
• Distinguish between censorship, social responsibility, freedom of speech, normalization, glamorization and responsible use of tobacco in the media.
• Discern how social responsibility relates to artisitc freedom and the depiction of tobacco use in the media.

Keywords: Smoking, Media

Related Web page: www.cdc.gov/tobacco

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: American Lung Association of Sacramento/Emigrant Trails (STARS Program) and Centers for Disease Control, Office on Smoking & Health
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I am a consultant for the CDC/OSH. I am presenting the new video and teachers guide that are available to the public at no cost. There is no financial involvement.