I’ll admit — I’ve never seen a single episode of AMC’s Mad Men. I’m sure it’s great TV, I’ve just got better things to TiVo. But I do love the uproar the show gets from the anti-smoking Nazis. You see, because it’s a show based in the 1950s, there’s a lot of cigarettes. Everyone smokes. And no one (at least not yet) has keeled over from lung cancer, nor have any children been afflicted with a deadly asthma attack within seconds of entering a smoke-filled room.
I hate cigarettes. Having worked in a fair share of bars and restaurants, and having a few friends who smoke them, I think they’re nasty and disgusting. They’re an unnatural form of tobacco and are addictive. My grandfather died of lung cancer, partly because he smoked cigarettes.
Now, here comes the conundrum: I love cigars. I believe they are a totally different animal. Because they are made completely out of tobacco, and (most importantly), you don’t inhale, they are far less addictive and far less harmful than any nicotine products. Are they 100% safe? Of course not. But since I’ve dramatically cut down my drinking, started eating healthier and exercised more, a man needs a vice. And like a fine wine, whiskey, or even cheese, fine hand-rolled cigars are a thing to be enjoyed, relaxed with and savored. As my palate gets more sensitive, I’m able to pick out floral and taste notes (much like wine) and the region it’s made.
The anti-smoking Nazis can’t make any distinction. Reports like this contain holes one can drive a truck through (maybe in a later post). In fact, anyone even hinting of using a tobacco product is someone to be shunned and put in a colony in some remote island, like lepers.
Personally, I think all these smoke bans are ridiculous. Like most everything else, the market is best suited to handle this. There is no reason I shouldn’t be able to open my own bar/restaurant catered directly to smokers, employ only smokers, and post signs in front telling non-smokers that they may want to go elsewhere. Instead, the state deems to tell me that they know what’s best for me, and bans smoking across the board, sequestering all tobacco users to some remote corners.
If private companies want to ban smoking, force smokers to pay more in health insurance, or something else, I have no problem with that either. It’s up to us, the public, to make the choice.
With that being said, I have to chuckle at the backlash toward Mad Men. I also noticed at the end of the movie Iron Man, there’s a disclaimer that basically says the movie doesn’t endorse tobacco use and its use was purely for artistic purposes (Jeff Bridges’ character Obadiah Stane is the evil villain and *gasp!* smokes cigars).
Meanwhile, we can show basically all the violence we want to. Drug use is cool, as is teenage, unwed pregnancy (yay Jamie Lynn Spears!)
But God forbid we show someone smoking. What will the children think? Lord forbid we force their parents to teach them to think for themselves. That’s the government’s job.
