Hundreds of thousands of fans anticipated the release of Stranger Things 3 last week, but not everyone was happy about the show’s new season.
The Truth Initiative, an anti-tobacco organization, recently released a report showing that Netflix’s depictions of smoking tripled last year. Among the culprits were Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, and Fuller House.
Now, Netflix has pledged to cut down on smoking in its more family-friendly shows.
“Going forward, all new projects that we commission with ratings of TV-14 or below for series or PG-13 or below for films, will be smoking and e-cigarette free — except for reasons of historical or factual accuracy,” a Netflix spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly in a statement. “For new projects with higher ratings, there’ll be no smoking or e-cigarettes unless it’s essential to the creative vision of the artist or because it’s character-defining (historically or culturally important).”
The problem with shows such as Stranger Things, House of Cards, and even Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, according to Truth Initiative, is that their “tobacco imagery” might inspire imitations.
Per the report, “The U.S. surgeon general found that those with higher levels of exposure to tobacco use in movies are twice as likely to smoke compared with those with less exposure.”
But instead of reducing depictions of smoking, Netflix might consider canning 13 Reasons Why, which is slated for a third season. The show about teen suicide coincided with a noteworthy uptick in the suicide rate. That seems more dangerous than a cop in the ’80s smoking a few cigs, don’t you think? People can quit their teen smoking habits — they can’t come back from teen suicide.
Netflix: We’re gonna unnecessarily show a teen’s suicide in graphic detail despite the fact that this is the exact type of thing we should NOT be showing
Also Netflix: Yeah but no smoking in a show set in the 80s https://t.co/Vw7k0BagdS
— That One Guy (@SoulSurge100) July 5, 2019
Many instances of smoking in Netflix shows simply imply historical or contextual accuracy. Smoking was much more common in the ’80s (Stranger Things), and it continues to be common, if often banned, in prisons (Orange is the New Black).
Luckily, Netflix’s hedging language — ”except for reasons of historical or factual accuracy” — gives it enough margin, theoretically, to keep smoking in its programming as before.
Depictions of unhealthy behavior shouldn’t necessarily be banned if they add context or realism to a story. What Netflix should reconsider, though, is the glamorization of more dangerous actions, such as suicide.
There’s no need to sugarcoat the world, but Netflix is certainly doing viewers no favors by hand-wringing over smoking while promoting far more dangerous content.
