Films not helpful to antitobacco campaign

Films not helpful to antitobacco campaign

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The national antitobacco campaign, which has enlisted the help of
several film artists to get its message across to the public, is
facing a daunting task due to the fact that smoking appears to be
deeply rooted in the film industry and the community.

A recent finding from a pulmonologist at the Persahabatan
Hospital in East Jakarta has painted a gloomy picture of the
prospects for the campaign here.

Dr. Tjandra Yoga Aditama watched six local TV channels from
May 29 to June 2 and found that 14 of the current top-rated TV
sinetron (serial dramas), contained smoking scenes, while only
five others did not.

About 70 serial dramas are aired by state and private TV
stations every week.

Tjandra discovered that more than half of the smoking scenes
had leading artists playing influential roles, such as fathers,
entrepreneurs, call girls or teachers.

Concerned about the rising number of young smokers, this year
the World Health Organization picked "Tobacco-Free Film and
Tobacco-Free Fashion, Action!" as the theme for the World No
Tobacco Day, which fell on May 31.

The film and fashion industries are believed to have
contributed to the growing number of young smokers.

However, the chairman of the Indonesian TV artists guild,
Anwar Fuady, refuted claims that drama serials promote the use of
tobacco among young members of the audience.

"Back in my village many years ago, when most people did not
own televisions, a lot of youths started smoking at a young age,"
he said.

Anwar, who has quit smoking, said his organization supported
the antitobacco campaign.

"I urge my colleagues to stop smoking, although it is hard to
expect that they'll listen to me," he said.

Before the launch of the global campaign against tobacco, the
organization adopted an unwritten ruling that stipulated smoking
scenes were to be given to those playing antagonists.

"Actors cast as the good guy usually don't do smoking scenes
as viewers look up to them," he said.

Noted film producer Mira Lesmana also rejected claims that
film artists who did smoking scenes had encouraged teenagers to
smoke.

"The allegation comes from the same people who say that
violent movies increase the number of rapes. It seems to me that
movies are always being made the scapegoat," she told The Jakarta
Post.

Mira, who is a smoker, said advertising, sponsorship and
promotion offers from tobacco companies could be very tempting
for those working in the entertainment industry.

"The tobacco industry has a large promotion budget," she said.
One of her movies, Kuldesak, was sponsored by a cigarette
company.

"But whatever the product, whether it is cigarettes or
something else, I prefer not to use it in my movie, but to keep
it separate for promotion purposes only," said Mira, who is
married to actor Mathias Muchus.

A poll conducted by the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI)
revealed that most people did not think that smoking scenes in
film were necessary. Only one respondent commented that they
would find it strange if none of the actors smoked.

Mira said she could not guarantee if any of her upcoming
movies would be tobacco-free.

"It would depend on the characters and what is demanded for
the scene. If the character is a smoker, then of course the actor
should smoke to emphasize his character," she said.

However, for PG-rated movies, Mira said she would try her best
to avoid characters who smoke in order not to influence younger
members of the audience to take up the habit.

Two of Mira's box-office hits include Petualangan Sherina
(Sherina's Adventure) and Ada Apa dengan Cinta? (What's up with
Love?).

Elsewhere, 83 percent of the movies from Hollywood and 76.5
percent of the movies from Bollywood still include scenes with
actors and actresses smoking. Some box-office releases, such as
X2, The In-Laws and Anger Management included numerous scenes
where the actors and actresses were smoking.

A recent discussion at John Hopkins University, organized
together with the Coalition for Health Indonesia, concluded that
it was hard to free films from scenes containing smoking.

YLKI chairwoman Indah Suksmaningsih said she would not expect
too much for an ideal situation.

"For now I can only hope that there will a separate location
allocated for smokers. That would help cut down on the amount of
secondhand smoke," she said.

Another speaker, the chairman of the House of Representatives'
Commission VII for population and welfare, Posma Tobing, shared
Indah's view.

"Public places, public transportation, as well as those
locations serving the public should have separate facilities for
smokers," he said.