Reefer Madness
DONG UK YI
the votes, can lead to the questioning of our fearless leader's
thought processes. There is no real consistency to what happens in
this movie. There is just shock value and craziness. The acts of the
protagonists are vilified. This is government propaganda in a nearly
pure form. The target is the evil side effects of a dangerous
narcotic, 'marihuana'.
An hour plus long dated PSA circa ancient 1930, the teens in this
movie have more acting chops and are considerably better than most of
the academy award winning actors and actresses in this day and age.
(Please take note Cher and Marisa Tomei.) The messages this film
attempt to purvey are well known and need no real explanation.
However, for those of you who are not familiar with the adverse side
effects, the symptoms can be erratic behavior, lowered sexual
inhibitions and the ability to play piano at break neck speeds.
Several characters such as Mary, Bill and the like are never truly
identified or developed. They could easily be 'Any Joe' in 'Any Town
USA'. This film is melodramatic and over the top. Camp substitutes for
a plot and is at times painful to watch. Take for instance the curtain
cord scene, which turns into a hangman's noose. This might be relevant
in any era, but in this movie it is a metaphor for the evils of
'marihuana' use. In essence, this movie depicts every user of
'marihuana' as turning into a sociopath and homicidal maniac. There
was little scientific evidence at the time this movie was made, but
overall the message is still the same today, 'marihuana' use can lead
to deviant behavior and make you do things you might not necessarily
do. IT could also lead to a life of crime and indignity.
On another note, I do enjoy these period pieces from a by gone era.
The women dress in fine attire and the men are equally suave and
debonair in their three-piece suits. Yet, I must add, what's with all
the smoking? It was part of their daily routine and is the most
revealing aspect of the past, that ignorance was bliss. How is it that
nearly every teen in this movie can dance and play the piano? Other
than fashion value, this movie usurped an hour of my life, the grainy
and sometimes inaudible audio made this movie even more demanding of
my senses. Overall, for the first movie to discuss, there is actually
little that I can say. Other than: Was I supposed to drop my doobies
and start jitter-bugging or swing-dancing? What is the significance of
this selection? Is this movie's message relevant to us in the 21st
century? Could this film now be considered rhetoric and blasphemous in
our neo-conservative society?
This is my contribution on our group's first selection.
Brian Slaughter
comments are witty and insightful. I was also astounded that Blanche's
skill on the piano became better after she smoked a joint. My only
question is why did it take you 414 words before you decided you have
very little to say?
Although many of the actions and scenes seem irrelevent to today's
society many of the themes in Reefer Madness still hold true. Drugs
make you do crazy things. Almost every modern movie where drugs are
the subjects uses Reefer Madness' formula as a base. i.e. The King of
NY, Less than Zero, Natural Born Killers. Someone gets wacked out on
drugs then someone dies. Are these films irrelevant too?
Perhaps Reefer Madness is just one of the beginning chapters of
America's never ending war on drugs. Was it the pre-curser to "Just
Say No"? Why does our government spend some much time and money trying
to deliver this point? We know tobacco is addicting and it kills yet
there is no war on tobacco.
Why can't we just like this film because it is so camp?
Brian
--
Brian Slaughter
***SuperStar***
"Do not arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Oz!"
milky
far into the future. (i might not have that feeling if the content was
more entertaining)...that said...here we go...
the movie might have been more entertaining had the psa been placed
after the film. the fact that reefer does not have the reported
effects on the user ruins the film on the front end and practically
put me into hum-ho, here-we-go mode...i can see myself in fifth grade
watching (read pretending to watch) this on a reel projector while
folding a paper football and kicking off a game with the kid next to
me...
as was stated previously, this movie was very hard to watch pretty
much because of the old school acting styles. i did find the dancing,
partying, and "adult" scenes to be quite humorous. and what about the
threat - "maybe you should be retired...permanently". this guy could
have been a corleone (maybe even a cheney)
politically, i can understand (i guess) the exaggeration of the effect
of the drug...maybe back then they actually believed weed (sorry, i
find "weed" to be a more natural term than "reefer") was as nefarious
a drug as the psa suggested...yeah, right...maybe they believed scare
tactics to be most effective on the target audience..."hey, kids, if
you smoke reefer, you too can wipe out an old guy in your car...or go
insane after killing some hot babe...or dance like this...or find the
brute strength to jump through a window pane and subsequently fall
feet first as if you just hopped off the ledge..."
i think there was one statement early in this thankfully short film
that i found to be most appropriate...something about marihuana
(spelling changed since then) growing wild in every state, and thus
ruining interstate commerce...perhaps that might be one of the real
hindrances to legalization...
overall, i would pan this movie...twice...
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this has been a public service announcement