This film had a big influence on me because it was an extremely funny, satirical way of sending home a message about how really deadly cigarette smoking is, and yet how the cigarette industry has worked and continues to work to try to find new customers. Rather than adopting a tone that is preaching and warning of the serious consequences of nicotine, like so many of the anti-drug and alcohol films, using a humorous slant made the subject appear to be funny but at the same time, extremely lethal. The main character was so committed to persuading people that smoking is harmless that he went to any length possible to make his case, but he ended up putting himself in situations that ultimately sabotaged him and his message. The satirical tone of the film had more of an impact on me because it did not adopt a heavy-handed approach to the negative aspects of smoking, but instead illustrated through the mishaps of Naylor that essentially, smoking will always end up causing grief and harm. I believe that a straightforward presentation about the harm of cigarette smoking would have the same impact as one warning about the detrimental effects of heart disease, alcohol, etc. because young people tend to tune out the lectures of adults that seem to be droning on and on about how bad it is to do certain things. I’m pretty sure that the response to hearing such lectures is for the audience to simply go right out and become involved in whatever the behaviors are that they have been warned against.

In regards to the balance between free choice and the cost to others of engaging in certain behaviors, I believe that people should be free to do what they want as long as they are not causing harm to others at the same time. For example, in regards to smoking, I should have the right to smoke if I choose to, but I also need to be aware that secondhand smoke is extremely damaging to others that may be near me. Many of the smokers that I know just don’t get it: that their smoking ends up on other people’s clothing, in their hair, and other surfaces which they then bring home to others and which can cause harm to themLikewise, if I am drinking alcohol, and I get in a car and drive and someone dies in a car accident because I was intoxicated, that behavior is unacceptable because it has harmed others. I think that the University mandate regarding smoking, as well as the government making decisions about what is not permissible behavior in terms of health, is an acceptable use of power because these are institutions that have a duty to protect people, so that they have a right and obligation to do so by providing regulations about public behaviors.