Freud’s study of the mind was based on his interests and attitude. He found the brain, and everything it could do, equally fascinating and mysterious. During test attempts, he became familiar with several drugs. He advocated for the medicinal use of weed, and would self-medicate with cocaine to treat his depression and the discomfort cancer caused him.
During that time, cocaine was prescribed for the treatment of several afflictions. However, he had already realized that people would slowly become dependent on the drug. The addiction to this substance could be extremely dangerous, but it was also slow and silent. It provided a quick stimulating effect that made 80% of its consumers consider it a great boost for their daily activities.
The substance is currently illegal. Most of us have only seen it on screen or read about it in books. It’s also the same with other recreational and relaxing drugs. Cinema and television have turned to them in order to create the most mythical scenes ever seen, which have become specially noteworthy for showing how drug use really is.
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Party Monster (2003) by Sascha Bailey
Macaulay Culkin starred this movie alongside Marilyn Manson and Seth Green. In it, a young man throws the most extravagant parties where drugs are an indisputable attraction. All the guests go crazy and dance to the rhythm of unlimited illegal substances, until something outrageous happens.
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Blow (2001) by Ted Demme
It’s the story of a regular man who embodies your typical dreamer. By a twist of fate, he becomes one of the most successful drug lords in the United States. Although many scenes exaggerated the effects of the substance, most are really faithful and show its relaxing and analgesic purposes.
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American Gangster (2007) Ridley Scott
This movie shows the rise and fall of one of the most important drug lords in the United States, and in the world, during the seventies, an Afroamerican man who becomes his own victim. Drugs are not a supporting element, but another main character.
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Rush (1991) by Lili Fini Zanuck
Despite having everything to become a cult film, this movie was forgotten. It follows the ups and downs of two cops that infiltrate in a mob to dismantle it from the root. The strongest point in the movie involves around a torture technique of forcing drug consumption.
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Spun (2002) by Jonas Åkerlund
Through youthful trips, this movie shows a side of drug use that is a little bit more exaggerated. Its starts as a critique and then turns into a satire. However, it offers really good insights about the reasons why young people turn to drugs and become addicted until they lose control of their bodies.
Traffic (2000) by Steven Soderbergh
This movie intertwines different stories that take place within the world of a drug trafficking network that is connected from the political sphere to the consumer sphere. The stories deliver several key moments where the drugs stir the actions of the characters. At first, they think they are the substances’ puppeteers, but later on they find out that’s a mistake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGsduf8HeQo
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Basketball Diaries (1995) by Scott Kalvert
The protagonists’ addiction to drugs is so strong that they threaten their families in order to pay all the debts that come with this dependence. DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg embody two characters whose lives start to decay dramatically. Will their youth be gradually dissolved in cocaine, weed, and LSD until it fades away?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPNs0zO8QPQ
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) by Terry Gilliam
It is said that this move was shot under the effect of drugs to make the portrayed situations more realistic. Some of the drugs that appear in the film like cocaine, LSD, anxiolytics, mescaline, and alcohol, were actually real. The semi-conscious mind of the protagonists gets lost in an ultra sensorial experience as they search for the American dream.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m662obIvhY
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Drugs may destroy, but they are also a valuable source of inspiration. Let’s take them as they are: the representation of a reality we don’t belong to, but we can identify.
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Illustrations Of What You Do When You’re On Drugs And Nobody’s Watching
The Best Music Videos To Watch When You’re High
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Sources:
IGN
Cinéfagos Muertos
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Translated by Andrea Valle
