tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496585120938599514.post7233968410499920004..comments2023-05-04T03:37:04.200-07:00Comments on The Rouge Wave: Character Trait: Smoker or Non-Smoker?Julie Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14690487940378619749noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496585120938599514.post-42201163677362933912007-07-23T09:39:00.000-07:002007-07-23T09:39:00.000-07:00I don't think it's a writer's job to show the worl...I don't think it's a writer's job to show the world the way it is. I think it's a writer's job to create whatever world their story belongs in.<BR/><BR/>That's why this smoking ban in the movies scares me. <BR/><BR/>Smoking is a legal activity. Yes, it's unhealthy, kinda stupid, and smelly. But if you can't show smoking in movies now, what will it be next year? No eating fast food? No sun tanning? No excessive drinking of coffee? What's Homer Simpson without his donuts? <BR/><BR/>It's a bad idea, not because smoking is truly necessary in movies, but because freedom is truly necessary to fuel creativity.Janehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04155111873477851906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496585120938599514.post-68217834979682856822007-07-22T12:57:00.000-07:002007-07-22T12:57:00.000-07:00I confronted this issue in my current script (fini...I confronted this issue in my current script (finished a draft this past week, yay). I'd heard about the decision to include smoking in ratings, and I guess I had that on my mind as I was writing. I have a tough character whom I might ordinarily have depicted as a smoker. She's tough, she's a rebel, she hates her life, she would probably smoke. But instead I turned it around and had her condemn smoking as a crutch. She's tough so she gets by without smoking, was the subtext.<BR/><BR/>I think part of our job as writers is to write for the market, and if the market (or the folks in control of what gets to the market) likes some things and doesn't like others, we have to take that into account.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496585120938599514.post-62958317116725418102007-07-20T19:37:00.000-07:002007-07-20T19:37:00.000-07:00I can admit that I am working on a very complex co...I can admit that I am working on a very complex college drama and am confronting that very topic.<BR/><BR/>How do you separate the personal from the influence?<BR/><BR/>I guess we, as screenwriters will suffer the conflict forever as ther is no easy answer. We want to appeal to the majority but the majority differs with drama, horror, thriller, etc.<BR/><BR/>Mulling through the endless possibilities of any cinematic endeavor will surely try the staunchest of conservatives and the most wild liberals as we can't limit ourselves to our limited view of the world but - in order to make a living - we have to realize that our views aren't everyone's.<BR/><BR/>But then because this is a craft (read:science mixed with mysticism and a sprinkle of theology), different genres do necessitate a slightly different world view.<BR/><BR/>This is further diluted by the particulars of the story so that maybe screenwriters should just shoot themselves in the head before undertaking such an impossibly daunting task.<BR/><BR/>Wow, maybe I should just have every one out of five characters just light up.<BR/><BR/>Or maybe I digress.<BR/><BR/>Such is the life of a poet.Christian H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16847810167041864292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496585120938599514.post-74335899434924560722007-07-20T14:32:00.000-07:002007-07-20T14:32:00.000-07:00When I was a kid, in nearly all the movies I saw, ...When I was a kid, in nearly all the movies I saw, people smoked, killed each other, slapped their women, punched their friends, said "Look, wiseguy," and winked a lot. Smoking was simply something you did when you became a teenager.<BR/><BR/>My pediatrician, when I was a wee lad, would light up after my annual examination. Doctors, both in ads and in person, often recommended smoking as a means for relaxation. My father smoked Cuban cigars and my mother puffed away at either Luckies, DuMauriers or Kools. I began smoking unfiltered Camels on my first day of college (which is also when I took up less legal forms of stimulation, not recommended by my doctor), and have now been smoke-free for nearly twenty years.<BR/><BR/>Do we have a responsibility to set a standard of behavior? Yes and, then again, no. If we're writing a period piece (think "The Godfather"), it would be absurd not to show people smoking in the 40s and 50s. If not, unless it's in context, I'd take a pass, simply because it's no longer part of my life. I don't think I've written a character either in scripts on novels who smokes in some fifteen years or so. I don't miss it, and neither, it seems, do they.JPShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02045935799908793676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496585120938599514.post-69248676043926016402007-07-20T13:36:00.000-07:002007-07-20T13:36:00.000-07:00I agree with Annabel as well. It's the writer's re...I agree with Annabel as well. It's the writer's responsibility to depict the world the way it truly is.<BR/><BR/>As a writer I don't base character traits on the impressions my children may or may not take away from the story, I simply tell it like it is. <BR/><BR/>As a parent I do my best to teach them right from wrong.screen scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14365249622260031380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496585120938599514.post-57689186320042946072007-07-20T11:52:00.000-07:002007-07-20T11:52:00.000-07:00I agree with Annabel. I think if we try to contro...I agree with Annabel. I think if we try to control stories with the idea that we're doing it for the sake of the children, we're being totally unrealistic and not paying attention to history and human nature. <BR/><BR/>Dutch parents are very open with children about sex and drugs. Ironically, they have one of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the world and teenagers lose their virginity at a later age than teenagers in other countries. I know it's hard for American parents (and some Hollywood celebrities like Rob Reiner) to wrap their heads around, but making something taboo and secret just increases the likelihood that kiddies are going to go after it.<BR/><BR/>Showing smoking for what it is - an unhealthy crutch that some people use when they don't deal with anxiety very well - and let people make their own choices. <BR/><BR/>This country is infantilizing its population very quickly. Pretty soon donuts are going to be on the black market!Christinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14805340886472955460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8496585120938599514.post-64761856256413431792007-07-20T11:22:00.000-07:002007-07-20T11:22:00.000-07:00I am a mother of four kids (two of which are teens...I am a mother of four kids (two of which are teens). I don't want them to smoke, drink, or do drugs. I discuss these topics with them often. I stay plugged into their lives.<BR/><BR/>I think it is writer's jobs to show the world the way it is. It is the job of parents to teach and monitor their kids. <BR/><BR/>That's my two cents.annabelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00418449272620950266noreply@blogger.com