Thursday, December 3, 2009
Cultural Opportunity: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Are you ready for one crazy trip? And not just a roadtrip, but a trip of the mind. Well then you better “buy the ticket [and] take the ride!” In the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a journalist named Raoul Duke and his lawyer Dr. Gonzo take a trip of a lifetime from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. With a trunk full of any drug you can think of, the two prepare to take a wacky journey through the desert, their minds, and ultimately come out with some the craziest experiences of their lifetimes. This movie is all about the drug culture of the 1960s and 1970s. The men are constantly dropping acid, smoking weed, and taking all sorts of other uppers and downers. Their crazy drug-induced antics make for a quirky laugh-out-loud comedy. Overall I thought the movie was very interesting and I felt that Johnny Depp (Duke) and Benicio Del Toro (Gonzo) made a very crazy duo. But in the end the only thing I really remember are the crazy trips resulting from “too much too much too much” drugs and the music of Jefferson Airplane playing while Dr. Gonzo attempts suicide in the bathroom. I think the movie says a lot about American culture though. American society has dealt with the war on drugs for what seems like forever. But in the end, America isn’t really winning, the drugs are. No matter how many laws are established against drugs, people are still going to do them and create new drugs to experiment with. I mean, the guys even stay in a hotel full of cops while taking all of these illegal narcotics and not once do they get caught. I think the movie is a good source of wicked comedy for people who don’t mind being exposed to the drug culture. But if you are against such cultures, I don’t recommend seeing the movie.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment