Though drug use was widespread in the nineteenth century, the
negative influence of narcotics was mostly unknown. Cinema of the
early twentieth century was instrumental in making viewers aware of
the harmful effects of drugs. Throughout the decades, images of
drugs such as marijuana, LSD, and heroin in films impacted-both
negatively and positively-the national perception of their use. In
fact, the use, popularity, and opinion of certain drugs often
follow their status on the big screen. In Hooked in Film, John
Markert takes a close look at the correlation between social
policies and the public view of drugs and their portrayals in film.
In this volume, Markert examines the changing social attitudes
toward illegal drugs and their cinematic depictions from as early
as the 1894 film Chinese Opium Den to the present. The first
section of this book focuses on the demonization of drugs between
1900 and 1959, followed by an assessment of marijuana on the big
screen after 1960, when the drug was shown as part of everyday life
with no serious consequences. Post-1960 depictions of heroin use,
which have remained consistently negative, are also analyzed.
Markert then takes a close look at the portrayals of powdered
cocaine after the 1960s and the emergence of crack in the
mid-1980s. Finally, Markert discusses hallucinogens, Ecstasy, and
methamphetamines and their roles on the big screen. Tracking
hundreds of films spanning more than a century, Hooked in Film
looks at camp classics like Reefer Madness, comedies such as Cheech
and Chong's Up in Smoke, Dazed and Confused, and Pineapple Express,
and dramas, including Panic in Needle Park and Requiem for a Dream.
Scholars and students of cinema, popular culture, media studies,
and sociology will find this book a valuable examination of how
cinematic portrayals of drugs have changed over time, and how those
images have influenced public perception of drugs and even public
policy.
General
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