The British Medical Journal reports that the depiction of smoking in films is a strong motivating factor in encouraging children and adolescents to commence smoking.

We have to seriously question how having a character smoking contributes to establishing or portraying their character in the film. In today's world, where less and less people are smoking, is it realistic that so many prominant characters smoke.

Am I being cynical here, or might the tabacco companies be paying for product placement and that this is what is driving the prevalence of smoking in films.