Thank you for Smoking, a film made in 2005 originally thought to be about promoting smoking, but in the end it became about money and loyalty.
Nick Naylor, a tobacco industry worker and spokesperson, defends cigarette use and promotion. His job was not just to promote it, but he lived the "tobacco lifestyle" and defended it even when it caused him to be kidnapped.
Nick Naylor, in hopes of busting tobacco usage, attempts to go on a work trip with his son to Hollywood to pitch new movie ideas that will include smoking. On this trip, he shows his son that this is not simply a job anyone can do. Whether to agree or disagree on the use and health concerns of tobacco, he believes that it should be anyone's choice to use it. And his point to his son was if you are a lawyer and have to protect a murderer, you aren't saying that murder is right, but that everyone has the right to a defense and a public and fair trial.
In the movie, we see that he is not the only person who defends
Between the drama of wanting more promotion for ads and hanging out with the MOD squad, there is a bit of a one-sided romance with a journalist, Heather Holloway. While he used the journalist for sexual flirtations and pleasure, she used him as well, for a story. Nick gave Heather the inside scoop for decisions and private information about not only the company but his MOD associates.
Later, Heather published the information given to her and caused a large uproar and his "cancellation" to the public. After that, it caused bad press on the tobacco company, and as every company does with bad press, they fired him.
When fighting a congressman on whether cigarette labels should or should not have a large warning label, he strongly disagreed on the need for the label. His point was, do you put large labels on cars that they are dangerous and can kill? No, you simply know that because you have seen research.
Nick Naylor's point was not that cigarettes are not dangerous, but you do not need a label that things are dangerous because you simply know and should do your research before participating in anything.
In the end, after being kidnapped, shamed in the media, and fired from his job, he stayed loyal. After the congressional debate on tobacco, he left his job and decided his calling was bigger, and became a consultant teacher of persuasive techniques. Nick believed you do not have to like everything to sell it, you just have to make it sound better than the opposing option.
That was what correlated most with me.
What are your thoughts, good or bad, people will represent things, but do you agree that even something negative deserves to be protected or promoted?
