PARIS: A proposal to ban smoking in French films has been met with splutters of indignation in a land raised on images of puffing, pouting silver-screen stars.

The idea was floated last week by a senator from the opposition Socialist Party, Nadine Grelet-Certenais, during a parliamentary debate on how to help the French quit smoking.

Quoting a study that found 70 per cent of new French films show at least one character lighting up, the senator accused filmmakers of painting smoking in a positive light.

“It trivialises and even promotes smoking, particularly among children and teenagers who are the biggest consumers of these films on the internet,” she argued.

Health Minister Agnes Buzyn, a trained doctor who has pushed through a series of price hikes that will take a pack of cigarettes from seven euros currently to 10 euros ($11,80), said she was in “total agreement” with the senator.

“I don’t understand the importance of cigarettes in French cinema,” she said, vowing “strong action” to end the “trivialising of smoking on social media and in films”.

Smoking-related diseases are the leading cause of preventable deaths in France and the starring role of cigarettes in French cinema has long drawn blame for the lasting allure of smoking among the country’s youth.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2017