TY - JOUR T1 - Leaders and elites: portrayals of smoking in popular films JF - Tobacco Control JO - Tob Control SP - 7 LP - 9 DO - 10.1136/tc.2003.006205 VL - 14 IS - 1 AU - D M Dozier AU - M M Lauzen AU - C A Day AU - S M Payne AU - M R Tafoya Y1 - 2005/02/01 UR - http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/14/1/7.abstract N2 - Objective: To study frequency and traits of characters that smoke in films and to document on-screen consequences of tobacco use. Design: This study conducted a content analysis of the top 100 grossing films in 2002, with a total global gross of US$12.4 billion. Outcome measures: Three outcome measures were frequency of smoking incidents, traits of characters who smoke, and consequences of tobacco use. Results: 6% of characters smoked in 453 incidents, including 3% of children. In 92% of incidences, smoking had no consequences. The most frequent consequence was a verbal reprimand. Although tobacco is a leading cause of preventable deaths globally, only 0.4% of tobacco incidences resulted in death. No deaths were caused by disease. Characters who smoked tended to be major characters playing leadership roles. They tended to be from privileged elites: male, white, and mature. Conclusions: Films portray characters that smoke as leaders from privileged elites, making smoking more attractive to audience members. Because 99.6% of characters suffer no life threatening consequences from smoking on screen, smokers seem invincible, belying tobacco’s role as a leading cause of preventable deaths. ER -