People Are Campaigning To Cut Back On Smoking In French Films, Because "French Films Show Too Much Smoking"

French cinema is still addicted to showing smoking on screen, as a new study reveals the practice features in nearly all the country's films.

Smoking gets 2.6 minutes of screen time on average per film - the equivalent of six adverts, the French League Against Cancer found.

"Tobacco remains quasi-ubiquitous in French films," the League says.

It argues the exposure glamorises smoking and is calling for new measures to cut down the amount shown in movies.

Nearly half a century since stars like Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot lit up seductively during the French New Wave, some 90% of 150 films from 2015 to 2019 surveyed by the League contained a "smoking event," it says.

"French films show too much smoking." Um, no shit? They are French films? I don't think the French actually invented smoking, but if you told me they did, I would believe you. France is the only place I've ever heard people say "I don't smoke, but when I visit Paris, I HAVE to! It's so Parisian." Smoking outside of cafes. Smoking during dinner. Smoking in the morning. At night. Along the Champs Elysees. Young, old, doesn't matter. Everyone in France, as far as I know, smokes 24/7. You're going to tell them they won't see cigs in movies anymore? That's like saying you're not going to show bars and drinking in American movies. Imagine there were no bar scenes? No dinner drinks? I'm not exaggerating, I think that's the equivalent. It just doesn't sound possible to me at all. Something people are forgetting about France is that smoking isn't only cool, it's sexy. Sure, it's "sexy" when Don Draper smokes, but he turns heads because he's cool. French people cum themselves over puffing on cigs with their friends. 

I do see where these people are coming from though. I talked about this already, how Mad Men made smoking so cool that there was an increase in tobacco sales. That's one single show in America. Imagine the influence that every single movie, TV show, model, actor, celebrity has had on the people of France? They're not going to be able to quit cold turkey, both the smoking and the cool factor. You're going to have to pry those extra skinny pink paper gold filter girly cigarettes out of their cold, dead Parisian hands. 

(a friend of mine brought these back from Paris once and let me smoke one. I'd never felt cooler.)