By Kelsey Elliott

Movies don't tell the real story. If you want the real story, just ask my grandfather.

My 82-year-old grandfather has smoked for most of his life. He doesn't look like Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson looked "sexy" and "cool" when he smoked up in "What Women Want." But "sexy" and "cool" are not words I would use to describe my grandfather. Words like "odor" and "stained teeth" are more appropriate for him.

Movies don't tell the real story. Movies don't tell you that your body will change if you keep smoking. Movies don't tell you that you'll potentially need to be hooked up to an oxygen machine if you keep smoking. My grandfather is hooked up to an oxygen feed. Tubes run in and out of his nose. They look like snakes. And, no one likes snakes.

People stare at him. The stares make me sick. I wish people understood that my grandfather wants a life like the rest of us. His body no longer has the capacity to reflect that. Movies don't tell you that part of the story. Movies don't tell you that walking will seem like a full-fledged Olympic sport. My grandfather can't walk around for more than five minutes without stopping to take a rest. In "Charlie's Angels," Drew Barrymore doesn't stop to take a rest when she lit up. She was too busy perfecting her high-energy action kicks and punches. "Kicks" and "punches" aren't part of my grandfather's physical vocabulary. Walking is. Every step is a challenge for him. His feet hit the concrete slowly. One by one. People stare at that, too. Movies don't tell that story either.

Movies don't tell you that your smoking habit commits you to a fight. You're enrolled in a battle against your lungs. Breathing wasn't a struggle for Anthony Hopkins in "Hannibal" when he smoked. Teenagers thought he looked "powerful" and "sophisticated" when he lit up. My grandfather doesn't look "powerful" and "sophisticated" when he's desperately fighting for oxygen. Yes, I realize my grandfather isn't a Hollywood star like Anthony Hopkins. My grandfather didn't win a handsome Hollywood salary like Anthony Hopkins. My grandfather got emphysema, instead.

Like a prison, emphysema confines his daily activity. My dad said he gets about 90 percent of oxygen on a "good day." And, it's not getting better. Movies don't tell you that part of the story either. Movies don't tell you that you might have to become dependent on someone else. My grandfather's life depends on my grandmother. I see the effects of 60 years worth of his smoking taking its toll on her, too. It's not fair.

My grandfather was selfish. Smoking is a selfish habit. I don't want people smoking around me. Do smokers think about that? No. The effects of second-hand smoke go unnoticed. But, movies don't tell you that, do they. Movies don't tell you that you'll have to worry about contracting a common cold if you develop a smoking-related illness. When Glenn Close smokes in "102 Dalmatians," "catching a cold" isn't one of her concerns. My grandfather's life is automatically in jeopardy if he contracts a common cold. Most people are threatened by freak accidents, natural disasters and terminal illnesses. My grandfather has to worry about getting the common cold. Movies don't tell teenagers that. It angers me.

Movies don't tell teenagers what will potentially happen to them if they keep smoking day by day, year by year. Movies don't tell you about the effects of a continued smoking habit. I've seen it - up close and personal.

The fact is, movies don't need actors to smoke. Smoking scenes are entirely unnecessary. Teenagers would still go and watch Jim Carrey in "Me, Myself and Irene" even if he didn't smoke. So, I ask: Why are cigarettes carelessly added into Hollywood's top blockbusters? To make a couple of extra bucks?

It infuriates me to think Hollywood would increase the odds of millions of teenagers to suffer the same fate as my grandfather, all for a larger commission. It makes me so furious that I'm sick of letting it happen. I refuse to see more teenagers turn into my grandfather, and I'm sick of sitting back and doing nothing. That's why I'm doing something about it.

I volunteer weekly for the American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails in Sacramento, which is leading the crusade against smoking in entertainment. For a few hours, I get to watch movies and I count the number of incidents of tobacco use. I sit there and make a check mark every time an actor lights up.

Back in the real world, 400,000 people a year die from smoking-related illnesses, but Hollywood continues to crank out films with pro-tobacco messages. I think there's something wrong with that picture, and I'm trying to change it through my volunteer efforts. I'm trying to tell teens not to smoke. I'm trying to tell teens to quit smoking before they end up like my grandfather. I'm trying to tell the real story.

Kelsey Elliott, 17, is entering her senior this fall at Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks, Calif.