Hollywood Declares Cigarettes the New Black After Decades of Quitting

KEY POINTS

•Public health group Truth Initiative reported over 50% of 2024’s top movies show cigarettes, a 10% increase from 2023.
•Dakota Johnson, Sabrina Carpenter, and characters on 'The Bear' prominently smoke, bringing cigarettes back into pop culture.
•Health officials warn smoking’s deadly risks persist despite a cultural revival linked to nostalgia and celebrity influence.
•Young people embrace analog bags and Y2K fashion trends, which ironically coincide with a smoking renaissance on screen.

Once banished to grandmas' living rooms and smokey airplane cabins, cigarettes have staged a comeback in 2024's top box office flicks, popping up in more than half, up 10% from last year. Dakota Johnson blows smoke in 'The Materialists' while chefs at 'The Bear' juggle burnt meals and quit attempts. Sabrina Carpenter‘s surreal cigarette-fork combo in 'Manchild' adds a culinary twist to lung torture. Instagram's Cigfluencers archive celeb puff portraits—Charli XCX, Natalie Portman, and Leo DiCaprio included—because celebrity coughing is apparently aesthetic. TikTokers debate coolness while the American Lung Association reminds us cigarettes kill more than just fashion trends. Meanwhile, youth cling to Y2K vibes and analog bags, apparently needing physical puzzles safer than tar inhalation.