Analysis Thank You For Smoking

Smoking kills over 1,200 people a day and has a total death toll of over 100 million people. In the past, smoking was culturally appropriate. People were not aware of the damage smoking can cause on the body. Today, there is no question wether smoking cigarettes are detrimental to one’s health. In Thank You For Smoking, the main character, Nick Naylor, lobbies for big tobacco, but finds it hard to balance his morals for his job, with those of being a parent. Throughout the movie, Nick tries to prevent an anti-smoking campaign from putting warning labels on the cigarette boxes. He succeeds in his attempts, however, later quits his job from big tobacco. It seems as if Nick has developed morals and will stop lobbying, however, he immediately …show more content…
Nick Naylor and the lobbyist company are depicted as the positive characters. An example of this is how Joey’s step dad is a doctor who knows how bad cigarettes are and tried to speak to Nick about it. However, Nick immediately shuts him down. Movies that have divorced main characters portray the wife as a bad guy, but if she is remarried, then the spouse is depicted as evil and dumb. In Thank You For Smoking, the step dad is a doctor, making any doctor who supports the elimination of cigarettes from the household a bad character. This also creates a perception of Nick that makes him the good guy. Another example of this, is when Nick is fighting against the tobacco warning on cigarettes boxes. He is shown as a man fighting an entire group of senators and judges to get his point across. The movie makes him seem like the hero, who, he and only he, can save the world by stopping tobacco labels. The movie also makes the senator who is trying to enforce this seem completely incompetent and makes Nick seem like an all knowing intelligence …show more content…
Throughout the film, it is obvious that Nick values his job more than the safety of others. He is depicted in the movie as a great protagonist who helps a failing company get back on its feet. Even though Nick is protecting big tobacco, the way that the movie is set up creates a positive image of big tobacco. By being engrossed in his occupation, Nick does not realize the impact his job has on his son. Juggling being a father and a big tobacco lobbyist causes Nick to influence his son to idealize smoking by bringing him on business trips, fighting the anti-smoking campaign, and attempting to advertise smoking in movies. In the closing scenes of the movie, Nick quits his big tobacco job in a big change of heart. However, he immediately becomes a lobbyist to fight cancer accusations for cellphone companies. It goes to show that no matter the circumstance, Nick will always set aside his morals for the sake of his