High Cinema: Drugs in Film

NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY PRESENTS HIGH CINEMA: A LOOK AT DRUGS IN FILM 1894-2014- DRUGS AND DRUG CULTURE IN CINEMA HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF BOTH REFLECTING AND SHAPING CULTURE. IN THIS INFOGRAPHIC, WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT HOW CULTURE-AND THE LAWS-HAVE SHAPED PORTRAYALS OF DRUGS IN MOVIES, AS WELL AS HOW FILM REFLECTS CHANGING SOCIAL ATTITUDES ABOUT WHAT IS OFTEN A CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC. DERAS. »» FREQUENCY OF DRUGS APPEARING IN FILM «««««« [NUMBER OF FILMS DRUGS APPEARED IN] O 10 20 30 40 60 80 100 200 300 400 500 600 SILENT ERA 1900-1920s 17 PRODUCTION CODE ERA 1930-1950s THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING 1960-1970s 139 "JUST SAY NO" ERA 52 1980s MODERN DRUG CINEMA 1990-2010s 546 SILENT ERA, 1900–1920s Drugs appeared frequently in silent films, more often in a positive or comedic light. UNBELERVARLE NOTABLE FILM a BOUGLAS PAIKBANKS CENE ENNTRAY MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH (1916): Starring Douglas Fairbanks as Detective Coke Ennyday who used cocaine to battle Chinese drug smugglers, this film is symbolic of the general social accep- tance of drug use and association of Chinese citi- zens with opium use. THE MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH -------------- REPRESENTATION How drugs were generaly portrayed in films during this period, from positive to negative. POSITIVE NEGATIVE PRODUCTION CODE ERA, 1930–1950s The portrayal of drugs became almost universally negative on the silver screen through a combination of federal law and popular perception. PUBLIC ENEMY wNEN NOTABLE FILM REEFER MADNESS (1937): The most notorious film from the wave of anti-drug exploitation cinema that thrived during the period, this film promoted popular misconceptions about marijuana. REEFER MADNESS ------ -------- - --- REPRESENTATION How drugs were generally portrayed in fims during this period, from positive to negative. ADULTS ONLY A POSITIVE NEGATIVE THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING ERA, 1960–1970s With the dissolution of the Production Code and the birth of the counter-culture generation, drugs started to appear on film with more frequency and creativity. NOTABLE FILM EASY RIDER (1969): A landmark film of the counter- culture movement, this film helped introduce the 60s drug culture to the mainstream by showing LSD and marijuana use non-judgmentally. easy Rider PETER FONDA-DE MIS HOPPERAst REPRESENTATION How drugs were generally portrayed in films during this period, tfrom positive to negative. POSITIVE NEGATIVE “JUST SAY NO" ERA, 1980s With Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush's War PACINO on Drugs picking up steam, depictions of drugs in film started to decrease or become more negative. NOTABLE FILM SCARFACE (1983): Reflected the growth of cocaine smuggling in the early 80s while reinforcing the American dream that anyone can become a millionaire, a hallmark of the Reagan era. However, the film's blood-and-bullet soaked ending reinforced an anti-drug moralism. Scarface REPRESENTATION How drugs were generaly portrayed in films during this period, from positive to negative. COMING SOON rROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES POSITIVE NEGATIVE MODERN DRUG CINEMA ERA, 1990–2010s With the Clinton administration and Generation Xx signaling a new permissiveness toward drug use, DIREE TORS ARTISAN drug films became more common and neutral in their depictions, moving away from negatively mor- alizing toward more nuanced stories. NOTABLE FILM REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000): This harrowing portrayal of addiction took viewers into the darkest corners of human desperation while reflecting the changing landscape of multiple or polydrug abuse, FROM TH E DIREGTOR O REQUIEM juxtaposing heroin addiction with pill abuse in the form of amphetamines. REPRESENTATION How drugs were generally portrayed in films during this period, from positive to negative. POSITIVE NEGATIVE AlISAGE. WHILE DRUG USE HAS INCREASED AND DECREASED OVER THE PAST CENTURY, IT IS CURRENTLY ON THE RISE IN THE US, WITH 9.4% OF AMERICANS HAVING USED AN ILLICIT DRUG IN THE PAST MONTH IN 2013, UP FROM 8.2% IN 2002. 94 COCAINE • USAGE OF COCAINE BY US POPULATION NUMBER OF FILMS COCAINE APPEARED IN 5.6% 42 5.1% 4.8% 2.6% 1.9 % 1910 1920 1930 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 USA 5,000 TOTAL 865T USA 165T DEATHS/YEAR In 1912, the federal government estimated 5,000 cocaine-related deaths occurred in a single year, while in 2012 that number had risen to 6,000 with over 41,000 drug overdose deaths in total. In 2013, Americans consumed the largest amount of cocaine in the world, using 165 tons of the 865 tons produced. 87 HEROIN USAGE OF HEROIN BY US POPULATION NUMBER OF FILMS HEROIN APPEARED IN 1.3% 1.4% 37 36 0.6% 23 17 11 02% 0.1% 0.3% 1900 1920 1940 1950 1970 1980 1990 2000 Heroin was commercially produced by Bayer Pharmaceuticals from 1898 onwards for medicinal purposes - including as a headache remedy, a cough syrup for children, and as a "non-addictive" morphine substitute. Surprisingly, its BAYER importation and manufacture was not banned in the United States until as late as 1924. The 1950s saw a rise in heroin use and thus an increase in drug-scare movies, which provided little to no educational value and did little to curb the rise in drug use. LSD USAGE OF LSD BY US POPULATION NUMBER OF FILMS LSD APPEARED IN 37 0.42% 18 0.37% 0.27% 0.35% 0.3% 0.9% 0.23% 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000S After the CIA failed to utilize it as i Use of LSD declined in the a weapon, LSD was embraced by 70s and 80s, but saw a rise the psychiatric community in the 1950s and gave rise to a black market in the 60s. LSD is not usually abused as it is not physically addictive. in the 90s alongside the burgeoning rave culture. 105 MARIJUANA • USAGE OF MARIJUANA BY US POPULATION NUMBER OF FILMS MARIJUANA APPEARED IN 40% 31 33% 34% 24% 12 12% 1920 1930 1040 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 250 After the Mexican Revolu- tion in 1910, there was an influx of marijuana into the US with over 500 "tea Marijuana was seen to have substantial medi- cal properties and was on the United States Pharmacopoeia list of pharmaceuticals from 1850 to 1942. Marijuana usage prior to WWII was i largely associated with immigrants, City in 1930, where peoplei racial minorities, and jazz musicians. During the 1950s, the Beatnik movement re-popularized marijuana use and it began to be accepted by middle-class America during the 1960s. pads" existing in New York could buy marijuana for 25 cents or less. METH • USAGE OF METH BY US POPULATION NUMBER OF FILMS METH APPEARED IN 6,5% 5.0% 5.19% 1995 2000 2005 2010 In the 1950s, methamphetamine was prescribed as a diet aid and to fight depression. Easily available, it was used as a nonmedical stimulant by college students, truck drivers, and athletes and abuse of the drug spread. Meth abuse was first found in Hawaii and the western states, but it had spread across the US by the 90s. In 1992, there were roughly 21,000 admissions to treatment centers for meth use and by 2004 the number had grown to 150,000. 1992 2004 USAGE OF ECSTASY BY US POPULATION ECSTASY • NUMBER OF FILMS ECSTASY APPEARED IN 6,2% 5.0% 4.3% 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2006 2009 2010 Emergency room visits related to ecstasy increased between 1994 and 2001, declining in 2002 only to see a 128% increase between 2005 and 2011. By the late 1980s, Ecstasy had become embraced as an all- inclusive market term for drug dealers selling "Ecstasy-type" drugs O O that may, in fact, contain very little or no MDMA at all. REPRESENTATION ARE CINEMA AND DRUG TRENDS LINKED? WE TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT HOW THE HISTORY OF DRUG CINEMA HAS BOTH REFLECTED AND DEVIATED FROM GENERAL USE AND PERCEPTION. SILENT ERA Thomas Edison made the first drug film in 1894 with Chinese Opium Den. Hollywood first officially dealt with drugs in films in 1921 by advising against films that show "the use of narcotics." B-POISO HOLLYWOOD [ PIUM ) COGAINE During the Silent Era, films generally associated users with the Chinese though in reality, many opiate addicts came from white, middle-class back- grounds, which films ignored. FOR HIS SON (1912) One of the only films during the Silent Era to show the negative consequences of drugs, D.W. Griffith's film told the story of a father inventing a soda called Dopacoke for his son, who soon becomes addicted to the beverage. This film is largely believed to be inspired by Coca Cola's use of cocaine in their ingredients. NOTABLE FILMS: Fun in an Opium Joint, Opium Smoker's Dream, The Dream of an Opium Fiend, The Devil's Needie [ COCAINE ) Cocaine's on-screen popularity reflected its high usage amongst stars as cocaine grew in use with upper class citizens and the Hollywood elite. NOTABLE FILMS: Mystery of the Leaping Fish, For His Son PRODUCTION CODE ERA ..-- -- The Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America passed the Motion Picture Production Code in 1930 and began enforcing it in 1934, requiring films to obtain a certificate of approval before being released. After the passing of the Production Code, Hollywood stopped portray- ing drugs in a realistic manner and entered an exploitation phase where only sensationalistic, anti-drug films were shown. [ COCAINE ) Declined hugely during the 30s with only 1-2% of the population use in their lifetime and only appeared in films that demon- ized the drug. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955) reporting cocal ocaine This was the first widely released film without the approval of the Production Code and it changed the narrative from vilifying "dope fiends" by portraying the plight of a NOTABLE FILMS: The Pace That Kils, The Cocaine Fiends Became prevalent in the 1930s and was generally associated with minorities and those of the lower class. C MARIJUANA I heroin addict starring Frank Sinatra as Frankie Machine, a jazz drummer. NOTABLE FILMS: High on the Range, Marihuana: Assassin of Youth, Reefer Madness Filmmaker Dwain Esper found suc- cess during this era, creating drug-scare films like Reefer Madness and Narcotic as films became tools for social control. Hollywood star Wallace Reid's death of a morphine overdose in 1922 helped usher in an era of cultural and political campaign- ing against opiates and they largely disappeared from films, only to reappear in the 1950s as use started to increase again. C HEROIN ) DRUGS AND HUMOR While drug use in film was primarily seen in exploitation films, it also was used for comedic effect, such as in Mickey's Garden (1935) which involves Mickey ingesting bug spray that causes him to start hallucinating. and in Modern Times (1936) shows Charlie Chaplin mistaking a bowl of cocaine for sugar. NOTABLE FILMS: The Human Wreckoge, The Yellow Claw Accidentally created by Dr. Albert Hofmann in 1943 and first seen in film in The Tingler. CALL OUT Filmmakers and politicians generally viewed audience members as passive viewers, and thus saw film as a medium by which they could control and shape public opinion. THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING ERA The portrayal of drugs shifted from scare-mongering to looking the destructive effects on the addict and the rise of drug smuggling. While social unrest built up throughout the decade, it was only near the end of the 60s that drugs began to be portrayed differently and not just negatively in film. [ COCAINE ) Though largely absent from film in the 60s and 70s, by the late 1970s cocaine started to appear more frequently as it became an acceptable upper-class drug, as seen in Annie Hall, but usually as a prop and not a significant part of the plotline. THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK (1971) The first mainstream film to show actual drug injection, Al Pacino and Kitty Winn played heroin-addicted lovers. The film was notable for its stark portrayal of drug addicts, while also showing the negative effects of heroin use. It did not employ NOTABLE FILMS: Breakfast at Tiffony's, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Superfly, Cocaine Cowboys Usage rose throughout the period, and films switched from cautionary tales to more accepting narratives in the 60s as audiences and popular opinion changed with acceptance increasing throughout the 70s. CMARLIUANA I scare tactics to communicate its message. NOTABLE FILMS: Woodstock, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Hair, Save the Tiger C HEROIN ) Blaxploitation, gangster, and martial arts movies made heavy use of heroin as a plot device, evidenced by films like The French Connection and I LOVE YOU ALICE B.TOKLAS Shaft, and continued by Cleopatra Jones and Coffy. Films like The Panic in Needle Park instead focused on the addict. CthINICOLDR NOTABLE FILMS: Trash, The French Connection, Joe I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS (1968) LSD films became prominent in the 60s-reflecting popular use-and while many had moral- istic messages, films like The Trip, Psych-Out, and Easy Rider showed LSD in a more neutral light. In the late 60s and 70s, acid films started to demonize the drug, as seen in Alice in Acidland and Blue Sunshine. This film looked at the counterculture's move into the mainstream with the story of a straight-lace lawyer, Harold Fine as played by Peter Sellers, abandoning his conservative life after meeting a young hippie and trying pot brownies. NOTABLE FILMS: The Trip, Psych-Out, Easy Rider CALL OUT There is usually a 3-5 year gap between when a movie is conceived and when it's released, hence many films dealing with drugs didn't begin to be seen until the late 60s and early 70s. "JUST SAY NO" ERA .---- ----- ALTERED STATES (1980) Though out of line with most drug cinema of the 1980s, the film is a seminal look at the surreal effects of psychotropic drugs, while opting for the fantastic and sensational over the realistic. .---.…--- DRUGSTORE COWBOY (1989) Ending a decade where drugs were largely absent from films' major plotlines, Gus Van Sant's groundbreaking film depicted the struggles of a group of addicts who rob pharmacies, portraying drug addiction in a nonjudgmental fashion. There was a decline in both popular ( HARIJUANA ) use and filmic depictions of marijuana, as it mainly appeared in films used by teenagers, and largely disappeared from films in the second half of the decade. [ COCAINE I While cocaine was largely absent from films in the 80s or was shown with little judgment, the rise of crack-cocaine led to a vast increase of films focused on the destructive effects of crack-cocaine, primarily focusing on 'urban' environments. NOTABLE FILMS: Repo Man, Less Than Zero, NOTABLE FILMS: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Risky Business, The Breakfast Club, Cheech and Chong's Still Smokin' Clean and Sober C HEROIM I Frequency of heroin use declined at the end of the decade, facilitating its disappearance from cinema, although scenes of users shooting up still remained popular in films depicting heroin use. Only a handful of films dealt with hallucinogens in the 80s and generally associated usage with strange behavior. NOTABLE FILMS: Liquid Sky, Sid & Nancy, Platoon, Bird NOTABLE FILMS: Where the Buffalo Roam, Derk Habits MODERN DRUG CINEMA ERA O- --... NEW JACK CITY (1991) Depicting the rampant destruction of crack-cocaine in cities, this sensational- istic film paints a somewhat overblown depiction of a crack empire while still addressing the real issues that crack wrought on communities. PULP FICTION (1994) Although not a drug movie in plot, drugs make continuous appearances throughout the film and helped usher in a new type of drug cinema in which drugs were shown in non-judgmental ways while still not shying away from their dangers. ...- ..--..--- .. TRAINSPOTTING (1996) Controversial at the time of its release for arguably glamorizing heroin use, Trainspotting was a watershed drug film that took a stylized yet unflinching look the realities of heroin addiction. A Swedish study would later find that the film played an active role in slowing down the progression of drug addicts through its "disgusting" imagery. ---- ----. ..--...-- ..--- GO (1999) One of the first popular films to depict the emerging rave culture and ecstasy use through the story of an unlikely ecstasy dealer's night at a rave. [ COCAINE I Cocaine only started to be represented negatively once its harmful social effects were [ MARIJUANA I established and it became less associated with the upper class. The early 90s saw a rise of crack-cocaine focused movies, such as New Jack City and Crack House. Films with cocaine in The 90s ushered in a new era of marijuana on film, with over a dozen marijuana films being released in 1999, more than the combined amount seen between 1990 and 1998. More films depicting marijuana use (112) appeared in the first decade of the 21st century than half of the 20th century (96) and they were largely one-sided and advocated marijuana use, both in fiction and documentary films. in the second them have tripled in the 00s than in the 90s, portraying cocaine with few consequences. and Confused, Cash Crop, Half NOTABLE FILMS: Clockers, Traffic, Blow, Bad Lieutenant, Al Society, Wolf of wal Street Boked, Smiley Face, Pineapple Express Heroin is one of the least abused drugs in the US, but it is heavily featured in film, usually with e although many heroin users take it in a different way. As usage declined in the 80s, there was an upsurge in use during the 90s that was met by a significant spike in filmic representations, with depiction doubling in the 90s and tripling in the 00s. Its appearance ons largely disproportionate to a with 153 film depicting heroin use between 1990 and 2010. C HEROIN ) Films rarely depict LSD's and other hallucinogens' therapeutic attributes and tend to focus on violence or "weird behavior" (LSD) s injecting the drug related to hallucinogens, such as The Big Lebowski and Fear a Loathing in Las Vegas. However, there was also an increase in nuanced cinematic depictions of acid and other hallucinogens like psychedelic mushrooms is I usage, NOTABLE FILMS: Basketball Diaries, Brokedown Palace, NOTABLE FILMS: Natural Born Killers, SLC Punk, The Big Lebowski, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Having become a national concern by the 2000s, films narratives rapidly increaseOn me ( ECSTASY ] The rise of rave culture and ( METH ) popularity of use led to the growth of ecstasy films which peaked in the late 90s and early 00s. Films initially portrayed ecstasy positively, but grew more nuanced as more information and public health concerns arose. 3-along- side documentaries-and often looked at both the destructive effects of the drug on the individual and revolved around the "kitchen where meth is manufactured, though in reality, there has been a rise in the matic "shake and bake" method. sdangerous, less cine- NOTABLE FILMS: Go, A Midsummer's Night Rave, Push, Holy Rollers, Bod Boys 2 NOTABLE FILMS: The Doom Generation, Spun, Winter's Bone CALL OUT A Columbia University study found that children seeing an R-rated movie are six times more likely to try marijuana. PERCEPTION 1911 1914 1906 The New York Times releases an The Pure Food and Drug Act is passed to correctly label unlabeled foods and drugs that might contain heroin, cocaine, or another drug. article warning that cocaine leads young girls into prostitu- tion, becoming "white slaves." The Times continues to perpetu- ate racial stereotypes and drug usage in 1914 when it publishes an article on African-American cocaine fiends" in the South. The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act is passed to regulate and tax the production, importation, and distribu- tion of cocaine and opi- ates, establishing drug use as a medical issue. RIHLA 1924 1934 The deputy commissioner of the NYPD claimed that 94% of crime was committed by : heroin addicts. Meanwhile, during the early 1920s, cocaine had become an issue amongst Hollywood stars and a backlash spurred by William Randolph Hearst began in the media, ushering in an of negative popular perception of drug use. The Production Code, designed by Motion Pictures Producers and I Distributors of America president William Hays demanded that studios could only show drug use in a "moral" manner and must 1937 The Marijuana Tax Act is passed, making it nearly impossible to obtain mari- juana. get permission to do so. O Should Marijuana be legal? YES 1934 | 1969: 12% Harry Anslinger of the Federal Narcotics Bureau claimed | 1977: 28% 1985: 23% 1995: 25% marijuana was a "killer weed" and pressed Congress to pass a federal law, exploiting racial fears. Resentment toward Mexican 2001: 34% 1965 2013: 58% Drug Abuse Control Amendments were passed that declared amphet- amines, barbiturates and LSD as "dangerous drugs" and enabled the federal government to directly prohibit drugs. immigrants during the Great Depression helped move public opinion against Marijuana. 1970 The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 1966 1971 placed drugs under Federal jurisdiction. President Nixon first declares the "War on Drugs" and between 1971 and 2013, the number of Americans incarcerated for drug use grew from 40,000 to 500,000 with the "War" receiving over $1 trillion in funding. The Grunsky Bill was passed that outlawed the possession and manufacturing of LSD and DMT. Politicians and moral leaders railed against the counterculture of the 60s, with scientists publishing incorrect studies that LSD caused broken chromosomes and genetic damage. 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act added a number of penalties for drug trafficking and made the minimum sentencing 1976 In his first year in office, 1984 The Drug Analogue Act allowed for the government to immediately classify a drug as a controlled substance. While for the possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine equal to possessing 500 grams of powder cocaine. President Carter called for the decriminalization of marijuana alongside a ban on barbiturates. Under the leadership of his drug czar, Dr. Peter G. Bourne, deaths from drug overdoses dropped to a 30-year low. cocaine use quadrupled in the late 1970s, it was only when crack infiltrated urban, minority communities that public opinion called for more severe laws. 2005 The Combat Meth Act of 2005 modified the ntrolled Substances Act 1996 2003 to make pseudophedrine, which contains an active The Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act limited access to the chemicals and equipment used to manufacture methamphetamine. The Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act, also known as the RAVE Act, is ingredient in meth production, a Schedule V drug, limiting the amount that can be purchased and requiring an I.D. passed, allowing law officials to tie rave promoters to drug use and sales. SOURCES Chilling out : The cultural politics of substance consumption, youth and drug policy, Shane Blackman Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2004. Hooked in Film: Substance Abuse on the Big Screen, John Markert: Scarecrow Press, 2013. 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