Thank You for Smoking
directed by Jason Reitman, 2005.
It seems like the sort of movie that should be a satire. It kind of has a satirical feel to it. But I honestly don’t think Thank You for Smoking is a satire. At the end of the credits, when all is said and done, the flick ultimately endorses the “moral flexibility” of its protagonist. And it makes us feel good about that.
Now, I’m not saying I came out of Thank You for Smoking hankering for a cigarette (I think others have remarked the irony that cigarettes fail to make an appearance in the film) or liking the tobacco industry. I just didn’t leave it with the sort of judgmental self-righteousness that normally accompanies a satire. I don’t like the tobacco industry or lobbyists any less.
The film doesn’t expose anything. Doesn’t really comment upon anything except the importance of personal relationships.
How does a film that by all indicators should be a satire avoid taking a position?
It reminds me of Citizen Ruth (Alexander Payne, 1996), the only artistic work on abortion that is neither pro-choice nor pro-life. I had always thought it was impossible, but there it was.
