HBO Max removes cigarettes from artwork

We all know smoking is bad (mmkay, kids?), but now the very idea of even looking at a cancer stick is something HBO Max is apparently trying to put a stop to.

It was recently discovered that HBO Max has altogether removed the implication of smoking–that is, cigarettes and cigars–from the accompanying artwork on certain movies. The two standout examples right now are for Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and John Milius’ The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, as seen in the below tweet:

Of course, it’s going to take a hell of a lot more from HBO Max than removing cigarettes and cigars from the hands of Warren Beatty and Paul Newman to make them uncool. Although now it does look like Beatty is trying to give a lecture, and Newman is twirling his mustache like a dastardly cartoon villain.

It should be noted that not all key art featuring smoking has been altered. For example, Jack Nicholson still holds a cigarette for 1990’s The Two Jakes.

There’s generally nothing wrong with promoting a healthier lifestyle, but by removing smoking, HBO Max is also now enforcing a new act that needs to be called out. By removing anything from the artwork, they’re taking away from the artists and even the films themselves. Altering their work (with or without permission; this remains unclear) seems a damaging act not just to the artists (the great Richard Amsel among them) but changes the immediate perception of what can be expected.

HBO Max has been connected to several controversies over the past few months, including pulling three dozen movies and TV shows from its catalog and losing out on the shelved Batgirl.

HBO Max has yet to make a statement on the situation.

What do you think about this decision from HBO Max to remove implications of smoking from some key art?