Chris Dearstyne: Time for Hollywood to Put Out the Cigarettes

Name: Chris Dearstyne, Class of 2011 graduate 

Senior Mastery Project: In the final scene of Grease, Sandra Dee goes from squeaky clean to cool, donning a skin-tight, black cat suit while smoking a cigarette. Drunken misadventures are glorified in the smash hit comedy, The Hangover. Teen shows like 90210 and Gossip Girl frequently show underage teens drinking. Is Hollywood encouraging teenage drinking and smoking? Through his research, Dearstyne learned that advertisements and the media are in fact influencing teens to smoke and drink.

“[Teens] want to become like their favorite actor or character and if [the] actor or actress smokes, then [they smoke],” Dearstyne told Patch by email. 

A surprising fact: “Pre-teens are also influenced to drink alcohol and smoke from the [movies and television shows] they see,” Dearstyne wrote in an email to Patch. 

Fun Facts: Dearstyne loves watching movies. He owns over 300 movies and enjoys going to the movie theater. While attending Avon High, he wrote movie and game reviews for the school newspaper, participated in student government during his freshman year and served as co-captain of the Video Game Club for three years.

Summer Plans: He’s going on a cruise in August and will spend the rest of the summer relaxing, running errands for his parents and going on weekend trips. 

College Bound: He plans to study broadcast journalism at Middlesex Community College.

Editor's Note: Hey, Avon Class of 2011 graduating seniors! Do you want your senior master project featured on Avon Patch? E-mail the information to Jessie.Sawyer@patch.com, along with a photo of you and your project. Parents, you can submit on behalf of your children as well. We will be spotlighting one senior mastery project a day, Mondays through Fridays, throughout the entire summer.