It is difficult to be optimistic that the Dayton peace accords can be salvaged. Half of the movies released between 1990 and 1995 featured a major character who chose to smoke on the screen. With all the compelling evidence that smoking is so harmful, it is appalling that smoking would once again be glamorized. It is difficult to believe that Brad Pitt smoking in a movie would not cause teens to associate the glamor, glory and power of such a media god with his behavior, including smoking. What society seeks to ban among teens, Hollywood reinforces the behavior everyone else seeks to banish.
Teenagers are inherently curious and skeptical of authority.
They do not miss the fact that there is an abyss between what is said and shown about smoking and the fact that 25 million adults still legally smoke. In this context, smoking among Hollywood's media gods makes the vice even more appealing to an already rebellious generation. Hollywood's actions are, therefore, unconscionable. Two Dallas-based Lesbian teachers, Becky Thompson and Pamala Stone, plan to open the Walt Whitman Community School, the nation's first private high school for gay, lesbian and bisexual teenagers. In an attempt to legitimize the lifestyle, these two teachers are seeking to bring gay teens into a segregated atmosphere which would reinforce their desires and leanings.