A Coalition of the Film Industry and Public Health Leaders

Abstract

To the Editor.—I commend the authors of the article “Longitudinal Study of Viewing Smoking in Movies and Initiation of Smoking by Children”1 for their initiative to demonstrate this relationship. However, it would be remiss not to include the recent historical events between the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and our public health leaders.In October 2006, Dan Glickman, the new chairman and CEO of the MPAA, took the unprecedented action of writing a letter to the State Attorneys General indicating that the MPAA would seek recommendations from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) regarding the behavioral influence of smoking in films on youth.2 In December 2006, he requested that Dean Barry R. Bloom of the HSPH give a scientific presentation to a meeting of 16 major studios and guilds, including the MPAA.3 On February 23, 2007, Dean Bloom along with Associate Dean Jay Winsten of the HSPH and Dr Jonathan Samet of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health presented the following unified message: “Take substantive and effective action to eliminate the depiction of tobacco smoking from films accessible to children and youths, and take leadership and credit for doing so.”2Although no definitive policy has yet been established by the MPAA, the significance of this meeting was monumental. A joint coalition between the film industry and public health leaders could not only lead to a policy of banning smoking in films but also create momentum to address other public health issues such as the impact of violence in films on youth.One impetus for behavioral change lies in the ability to shift societal norms. I hope that, as practitioners, we continue to support our public health leaders in this effort. Beyond the scope of the film industry, I encourage you to actively contact your state legislators to pass legislation that bans smoking in all public and work places, including restaurants and bars, if that law is not already present in your state. Smoking is the single-most preventable cause of premature death in the United States,4 and in the words of President Lyndon B. Johnson, “a genuinely free society cannot be a spectator society.”5