In the film "Thank You For Smoking" there are a lot of ethical and moral dilemmas in action. To summarize the film itself, Nick Naylor is a lobbyist for the tobacco industry. He advocates for smoking and for the act of smoking. We are able to see throughout the film in various forms that he is hated by many because of his career and the manipulation that he uses to try to influence individuals. It is through this film that we are able to see how breaking moral and ethical conduct and codes of business can not only affect a person, but their entire company and family.
Manipulation
One of the biggest ethical dilemmas is manipulation. It was through his personality and his talent in his career, that he was able to convince individuals that smoking was okay and good for them. One of the ways that we can see this manipulation in action is when Nick calls for there to be the implementation of smoking in more films and television shows. This allows them to broadcast the act of smoking across large platforms for all individuals to see, and again furthers his chances and manipulating individuals to think that smoking is cool or good for them.
We see this again when Nick is at a conference, and an individual asks him if he would let his son smoke once he is 18. Instead of answering the question, he twists his answer by saying that it is the children's decision to decide whether they want to smoke or not. Using this method, he was appealing to the American mindset which is, "We are the land of the free, we have the freedom to make our own decisions." By doing this, he was not being transparent whatsoever, creating a very large ethical dilemma when it comes to a certain code of conduct that organizations are held accountable for.
Tw9 quotes from the movie that prove my point are:
"That's the beauty of argument, if you argue correctly, you are never wrong."
and
"Michael Jordan plays ball. Charles Manson kills people. I talk. Everyone has a talent."
Seduction
Another ethical dilemma comes from the character Heather Holloway. A journalist who is looking to get more information, she uses her seductive ways to work her magic and get information on Nick Naylor about his life and company. By sleeping with him and spending intimate time with him, she was able to gather all of this information in an unethical manner. While at first the "relationship" she was forming with Nick was perfect for gathering all of the key details of information for her story, in the end it did lead to her downfall as a credible journalist.
She would lie to Nick constantly about who she was and why she was sleeping with him. She would lie about the conversations they would have either before, during or after intimate relations and say that everything was off the record when it really was not. This goes against all acts of professional journalism, and again leads to a very quick downfall once individuals find out how all of the information in the article or paper was received.
Conclusion
Even though I only touched on two of the ethical dilemmas in this blog post, the movie itself is riddled with different dilemmas that when watching, makes an individual question all of the characters and what their next moves will be. It also shows individuals watching the film that there are plenty of organizations that use unethical methods to convince their customers to use and buy their products.
It also shows individuals watching the downside when you are sneaky in your organization or in your craft. Seeing the downfall of both Heather and Nick teaches viewers that eventually the unethical actions you take are going to have a consequence, although they get you far where you need to go in the beginning.
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