The original post: /r/television by /u/AporiaParadox on 2024-07-12 12:20:11.
Although you still sometimes see characters smoke on TV shows, I’ve noticed that vaping is still quite rare despite vaping becoming common in the real world. The reason is probably because vaping isn’t seen as “cool” due not having decades of advertising and propaganda behind it like smoking does, and because e-cigarettes don’t look as cinematic.
When a character smokes, it usually means something, like that the character is cool, they’re stressed, they’re gross, they have a vice, it’s a period piece set during a time when everybody smoked, etc. Same for characters who smoke weed, it’s meant to say something about the character. So the few times vaping is depicted, what is the meaning the creators are trying to convey? What tropes or clichés are associated with characters who vape?