More than attacking either side of the tobacco debate too viscously, this film lampoons how our modern society and government often operates and how superficially people are swayed: sound bites rather than substance, demonizing those of the opposing view, statistics and research findings twisted and spun until data fits the agenda, doesn't matter if your statements are truthful just make the other guy look more wrong and most important of all in American life: justify whatever you do as worthwhile as long as it pays the mortgage! The film is smart and searing in a curious, undercurrent way and creates a bleak atmosphere that overshadows the dark comedy. I couldn't help wondering if those in the audience laughing the loudest were the ones who most identified with these characters and were laughing out as a defense mechanism. It has become an increasingly complicated, conflicted society that often makes many seemingly paradoxical demands on it's members and as people struggle for survival, which in America means: "paying the bills" we have become adrift and comical in the way we justify the means by which we meet that end and in the ways we try to influence social change. Sort of childish in the sense that we'll lie, cheat and steal and go to untruthful extremes and feel justified as long as it gets more people to agree with our view than the opposing one.
Review of Thank You for Smoking
