Women and smoking in Hollywood movies: a content analysis

Abstract

We analyzed the portrayal of smoking in Hollywood films starring 10 popular actressess. Five movies were randomly sampled for each actress, for a total of 96 hours of film footage that was analyzed in 1116 5-minute intervals. Leading female actors were as likely to smoke in movies aimed at juvenile audiences (PG/PG-13) as in R-rated movies, whereas male actors were 2.5 times more likely to smoke in R-rated movies. PG/PG-13-rated movies were less likely than R-rated movies to contain negative messages about smoking. Smoking is highly prevalent in Hollywood films featuring popular actressess and may influence young audiences for whom movie stars serve as role models.