Blood on their hands

Blood on their hands (Joe Eszterhas 2002)

This Document is an text, specially an article published in the Toronto Star, a liberal paper, in the 15th August 2002 and written by Joe Eszterhas, afamous Screenwriter ( Basic Instinct with Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone). It deals with the addiction of cigarettes and the smoking in the movies. Joe E shows us (all) the consequences of smoking inthe movies on all the people (actors, viewers, him)
• L.1 to 22: A militant Smoker/ His bad boy past/ defending smokers and their rights
• L.22 to 32: A turning point/ disruptism in his life• L.32 to 54: His attempt of redemption / His fight against Smoking/ a reversal of situation

I) Pro-smoking activism
The good life consisted on a life based on appearances, on vices, onthe idea of showing-off (smoking, drinking, partying, rock’n’roll and probably drugs and sex, beautiful cars…)
The positive image linked to smoking is glamorizing the characters, making them cool,attractive, and self-confident, sexy, bad boy: l 2 “they look cool and glamorous doing it”
L4 “It was part of a bad boy image I’d cultivated for a long time”
Cool= self confidence, self assurance,easiness/ comfort
Glamorous= beauty+ elegance+ fashion+ popularity+ modernity
Sex-appeal= sexuality, attractive ( embodies by Sharon Stone
They went as far as launching a brad of ‘Basic” cigarettes.Smoking is associates to Freedom, liberty a “right”, “personal freedom”. In reality smoking is an addiction.

II) Awareness
.Before, Joe E lived the good life based on vices and appearances.Whereas today, he has a throat cancer, the surgeons removed his larynx. He had to live with a tube in his throat, he doesn’t any voice. Cancer is a reality now. Today it is a daily problem whereasbefore it was an inexistent problem. As a consequence, today, He goes to Church every Sunday . the religion let him to redeem, to become aware of his faults, to find an interior peace, and the force to…