The Clouds Are Made Of Smoke

Dedicated to my U.K. pipe geeks @Gumley, @SamNewell, @Jarik73 and @NomisSilloc.  Thanks and Cheers, gentlemen.

Yes, there was smoking on Star Trek (the series, not the recent movie). In TNG, Data was shown smoking a pipe as Sherlock Holmes, and Riker and Picard were gifted with cigars by Q (which they didn’t seem to appreciate). On DS9, Worf enjoyed a cigar on the holodeck, and on Voyager there was a brief appearance of a cigarette in an early episode--which a character, Tom Paris, promptly condemned. And may I say Bones would have been a perfect pipe smoker, and Captain Sisko, too.

But tobacco is not really a factor in Star Trek. Nor is the franchise alone in seeing a future without smoking--with a few exceptions, most sci-fi ignores or viciously rips any and all tobacco use.
Those exceptions are notable, though. The leader of the resistance in Demolition Man is heads a pro-freedom group who, forced underground by the health-crazy surface world, proudly advocates red meat, sex, and smoking. Westworld participants enjoyed cigars and the unfortunate crew in Alien smoked cigarettes. In comics, Transmetropolitan’s main character smoked in almost every panel. And Wolverine and Nick Fury are known to enjoy a cigar.

All of these later examples feature, to some degree, a dystopia--a very imperfect, un-Star Trek-like universe. Hopelessness and strife abound in these alternate realities, totally unlike today’s world (ba-dum-tssh). This may explain why smoking is “allowed” in these creations. Smoking also creates, in some cases, a “noir” atmosphere reminiscent of classic films.

Confining smoking to these dystopias is a disservice, at least. In the realms of fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien--a pipe smoker--created the immortal, “pipe weed”-loving Hobbits, sustained by that substance on their long quest to vanquish evil. Smoking is such a vital part of this epic that even the recent film versions of the trilogy kept the pipe use intact. And as a whole, the genre of fantasy seems to give smoking a much fairer shake than science fiction.

I know that sci-fi has a better imagination, more creativity, than to limit smoking to dystopias or bitter vitriol. The long history of sci-fi is one of tolerance of differences and a lust for new horizons. Surely, the creators and innovators of this noble genre can see a new place in their works for smoking, instead of the tired negativisms of the past.

So there could be smoking at Quark’s bar, to relax, to invite friendship, and to give solace to those minds forever voyaging.
Twitter: @thepipebit