It's very distracting since Winona didn't know how to hold a cigarette. So many movies do this. Just take the smoking part away.
shareRyder was a smoker which would have been easy to figure out with a simple search. It's the character. Read the book or look into Kaysen's interviews.
shareWinona does smoke.
Most of the time, TV and movies don't use real cigarettes. Stop the pearl clutching.
It is kind of distracting, but I find it a minor point. A lot more adults smoked socially in the 60s. I've also seen smokers with connective tissue disorders and/or common psychiatric illnesses hold all kinds of things weird ways. Either way, it probably wouldn't be done as much today because there are stricter rules about film actors smoking onscreen.
1. Winona does smoke in real life
2. The movie was based in the 60's, what did you expect?
3. They're not actually real cigarettes
"A man chooses. A slave obeys."