|  Jason
Reitman won't tell you not to smoke. He thinks that's your
decision. It's not any of his business. And it's certainly not the government's
business.
Sounds like a libertarian? That's exactly how Reitman, who directed
the hit 2006 indie movie, Thank You For Smoking, describes
himself.
"I consider myself a fairly libertarian person; someone who doesn't
like being told what to do," he told the Toronto Eye Weekly
(March 23, 2006). "I don't have a problem with people smoking --
it's their right."
And he told the Arizona Republic (March 24, 2006): "I
have a love/hate relationship with cigarettes. As a nonsmoker, I love
the bans [on smoking in bars]. But as a libertarian, I don't like government
control. People should be left to their own devices. If people want
to put a gun to their head and kill themselves, that's fine with me,
and if they want to do it slowly by smoking cigarettes, that's their
choice, too."
Freedom of choice is one of the major themes of Thank You For Smoking,
which is about a tobacco industry "spin doctor" played by
Aaron Eckhart. The charmingly amoral PR flack encourages school children
to "think for yourselves" about cigarettes, earnestly explains
that Big Tobacco wants to keep cancer victims alive so they can smoke
more, and works a science-fiction movie product placement deal so astronauts
can light up in outer space.
But the movie doesn't actually advocate smoking. As Reitman told the
Philadelphia Inquirer (March 24, 2006), "The movie is
about freedom. But beyond freedom, it's about personal responsibility
-- and beyond that, it's about parenting. That you can't simply tell
your kids not to be smokers. You have to teach them to be good, independent
thinkers so that one day they can make the right decisions."
Based on the 1994 novel by Christopher Buckley, Thank You For Smoking
also featured Robert Duvall, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, Sam Elliot, and
William H. Macy. Critics called it "breezy and entertaining"
and "a sharp, irreverent satire." The movie grossed $23 million
at the box office.
Reitman, who was born in Canada, has comedy in his genes; he's the son
of Ivan Reitman, who produced Animal House and directed Ghostbusters.
While studying English at the University of Southern California, Reitman
raised $9,000 by selling ads for desk calendars to finance his first
short movie. That film, Operation, premiered at the Sundance
Film Festival in 1998. His other short films include In God We Trust,
Consent, and Gulp. He has also directed commercials for
Burger King, Nintendo, BMW, Wal-Mart, and Buick. Thank You For Smoking
was his first feature film.
Reitman told Canada's Macleans magazine (March 24, 2006) that
he hoped the movie's libertarian themes will appeal to young adults.
"They don't trust anyone anymore," he said. "And they're
tired of being told how to live and what to do."
Reitman blamed both the United States' major parties for that nanny-state
of affairs. "The Democrats want to tell me how to spend my money
and the Republicans want to tell me who to pray to," he told the
London Daily Telegraph (June 9, 2006). "Americans have
become hysterical in their mania for telling other people how to live
-- but I'm someone who wants personal choice and responsibility."
--
Bill Winter
Quotable
"I
suppose I'm a classic American libertarian." -- Jason Reitman
in the English newspaper The Guardian (June 11, 2006)
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