Movies, Substance Use in

Smoking in the Movies

Studies focusing exclusively on tobacco use have found that most films, both currently and historically, contain at least one instance of cigarette smoking, with R-rated films most likely to include instances of smoking. Generally speaking, smokers in films are male adults who are motivated to smoke when they are agitated, sad, happy, or relaxed. Whereas some scholars have found that characters shown smoking are depicted as having higher socioeconomic status and increased romantic and sexual activity (thus potentially serving as attractive models), others have not found such associations. Evident consequences for tobacco use are exceptionally rare in movies.

In terms of depictions of youth smoking, a study examining 200 of the most popular movie rentals from 1996 to 1997 found that 17% of youth characters (18 and under) smoked and that girls were slightly more likely to do so. More recently, research investigating the top-selling films featuring teenagers from 1999, 2000, and 2001 found that one sixth of the major teen characters were shown smoking cigarettes.

Alcohol Consumption in the Movies

Depictions of alcohol use in films have received less attention than tobacco representations, although studies analyzing drinking on television are more frequent. In one late 1990s analysis of films, researchers found four out of five films showed at least one major character drinking. Movie drinkers tended to be adults and to have a higher socioeconomic status, to be more attractive and romantic/sexual, and to be more aggressive than nondrinkers. The negative consequences of alcohol consumption are not commonly shown, although one tenth of the most popular movie rentals from 1996 to 1997 did contain an anti-alcohol message. This study also found that 22% of characters who appeared to be under the age of 18 drank, with 40% of them experiencing consequences as a result of their alcohol consumption. Two fifths of the teen characters [Page 554]in the most successful teen-centered films from 1999 to 2001 were shown drinking, although they were unlikely to suffer any negative consequences in either the short or long term.

Drug Use in Movies

Portrayals of illicit drug use, although frequently commented on in the popular press, have received little systematic scrutiny from the social science community. In one of the only studies to attend to drug use, in 1999, Don Roberts and his colleagues found that about one fifth of the 200 popular movies they analyzed portrayed illicit drug use, and only half of these portrayed any consequences. Eight percent of characters under the age of 18 in Roberts's study were shown using illicit drugs. Susannah Stern's analysis of teen characters in 1999–2001 films documented that one seventh of teen characters used drugs. Notably, this study also found that teen characters were rarely shown refusing an offer to do drugs or regretting any of their substance use behaviors. In 2001, Thompson and Yokota found no illicit drug usage in their study of animated, G-rated films, although they noted that three films showed characters consuming a substance that transfigured them, and two films showed characters injected with a drug.

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