The movie giant announced it will eliminate smoking scenes from films, noting that “A villain can be bad without smoking” and that “a hero can be cool without smoking,” according to Disney CEO Robert Iger.
In addition to Disney-label films, Touchstone Pictures and Mirimax, also owned by Disney, will be strongly discouraged from incorporating smoking scenes and characters into their films.
I can’t help but notice that this comes in the wake of yet another Lindsay Lohan debacle when the media are using her Herbie image in the “where did she go wrong” angles.
I’m all for positive role models. But I can’t imagine Cruella DeVille without her foot-long smoke, and I certainly don’t blame her for my former habit.
Will a smoking ban on fictional characters make a difference, or is this an attempt to take the heat off the real-life bad girls who still have their images attached to the label? — Joanie Hammes