What movie were they watching?

Smug liberals misinterpret libertarian film

By Aditya Kashyap
From the October 2006 Print Edition

Chatter filled the halls of Wheeler on September 1 as hordes of students spilled out of the auditorium after viewing the summer comedy Thank You for Smoking. Smiles and laughter were abundant among the crowd that exited the building that Friday evening.

The merry atmosphere itself was of no surprise; Thank You for Smoking had, after all, been one of the most successful comedies of the year in terms of both sales and critical reviews. The fact the movie had been well-received by the SUBERB Friday Film Series audience was something to be applauded — for once, public university funds were put to good use. What was surprising, however, was the smug look of satisfaction on the faces of many people. Comments such as "finally, a movie that addresses the issue [that smoking is bad] forcefully," "damn capitalist pigs," and "they really nailed Big Tobacco" were painful reminders of the liberal self-delusion plaguing not only the campus but the city of Berkeley as well.

Amusingly, the irony of the reception of the film by the overwhelmingly liberal audience was the fact that one of the executive producers of the project was Peter Thiel, an avowed libertarian and founder of Stanford’s main conservative publication, The Stanford Review. American financier, entrepreneur, and co-founder of PayPal, Thiel would never have funded the film had there been a liberal tendency, let alone viewpoint, in its presentation.

If anything, Thank You For Smoking champions libertarian ideology. Albeit, the movie satirizes Big Tobacco spokesperson Nick Naylor, presenting hilarious moments throughout the film such as when the character tries to explain "moral flexibility" and other euphemisms to his son. Yes, the movie presents Naylor’s boss as a callous, profit-motivated hound who hopes aloud to Naylor that he should lose a lung to gain public sympathy for Big Tobacco, while Naylor is lying on a hospital bed recovering from a nicotine patch–induced coma.

What the people in the audience failed to see, as their comfortably smug ignorance always allows, was the equally ridiculous presentation of leftist policy makers such as Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre, played by actor William H. Macy. Indeed, Naylor highlights the hypocrisy of Finistirre’s government regulatory fervor when he points out that the cheddar cheese from the Senator’s own state of Wisconsin contributes to the number one killer in America: heart disease. "Perhaps we should label Wisconsin cheddar as poison too?" suggests Naylor. Finistirre’s hypocrisy in the film ties into the leftist hypocrisy in real life of the simultaneous demand for the legalization of marijuana and ban on smoking virtually everywhere. Indeed, two towns in California now ban smoking completely, even in private homes.

The premise of Thank You for Smoking isn’t about liberal vs. conservative outlooks on life. Only someone with a very narrow scope of the world would think in those terms. At the conclusion of the movie, Naylor decides not to return to Big Tobacco, due to the influence it will have on his son, despite a standing offer from his former boss. Naylor’s final realization in the movie, an acceptance and recognition of the responsibility involved in raising his child, truly capture the essence of the film’s message: Let the people decide how to raise their children. It has never been, nor should it ever be, the right of the government to impose its values and morals on the individual. Only the individual knows what is right for himself or herself, so far as it does not impede on the liberties of others.

The students’ response to the film was truly disturbing because it illustrated how even a centrist message can be twisted so easily in the mind of a liberal to conform to their sphere of comfort. Then again, this self-delusional cycle only dilutes the logic and reasoning of those that espouse it. Perhaps that is what caused the audience that night to presume the movie simply bashed "damn capitalist pigs."

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