DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
HCSV366-01 Drugs in American Film Spring 2009
Instructor: Dr. Roland Lamarine Office Hours:
Office:
Phone: 898-6265 or after each class
Email: rlamarine@csuchico.edu
January 5-20, 12-4:10 p.m. (no class 1/19)
Course Description:
This course examines popular representations of psychoactive drugs in American film. Film portrayals of drug use are compared with current information regarding the prevalence, acute and chronic effects, and treatment strategies for specified licit and illicit drugs including alcohol and other depressants, stimulants, marijuana, and hallucinogens. Social, economic, and political elements related to drug use and abuse are explored.
Course Objectives:
The student will:
1. compare the attitudes, beliefs, history, and patterns of use regarding selected
drugs during the
past century in the
in American film over a similar period.
2. increase knowledge regarding acute and chronic effects and
treatment strategies for selected drug classifications: alcohol
and other depressants, stimulants, marijuana, and hallucinogens.
3. compare and contrast the depiction of selected drugs in American film
with their actual use among selected population groups.
4. compare and contrast governmental control efforts with portrayals
of drug control efforts in popular films.
5. explore the political, cultural, and economic impact of chronic drug use
upon the individual and society.
6. discuss ways that popular film both reflects and shapes society’s
beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors regarding licit and illicit drug use.
7. debate the risks and benefits related to the legalization of currently
illicit drugs in
the
Student Responsibilities:
1. Attend class
regularly
2. One-page analysis paper for each film reviewed
3. Final examination
Evaluation:
Analysis papers 100 points
Final exam 100 points
Final grades will be assigned on the following basis:
93-100% = A 73-76% = C
90-92% = A- 70-72% = C-
87-89% = B+ 66-69% = D+
83-86% = B 60-65% = D
80-82% = B- < 60% = F
77-79% = C+
Dates to Remember:
Final exam: last class
All papers should be typed, double-spaced, appropriately
referenced and will be graded on the basis of content, organization, style,
grammar, spelling, punctuation, and neatness.
Late papers, if accepted, may be penalized.
Course Outline:
Day 1: History and nature of popular film; how film shapes and reflects social
beliefs, attitudes, and practices Overview of licit and illicit drug use in
American history
Day 2: Marijuana: history, patterns of use, acute and chronic effects, treatment;
Writing workshop.
Day 3: Narcotics (opium, morphine, heroin): history, patterns of use, acute and
chronic effects, treatment
Day 4: Stimulants (cocaine and amphetamines): history, patterns of use, acute
and chronic effects, treatment
Day 5: Hallucinogens (LSD): history, patterns of use, acute and chronic effects,
treatment
Day 6: Sedative hypnotics (barbiturates and benzodiazepines): history, patterns of
use, acute and chronic effects, treatment
Day 7: Alcohol: history, patterns of use, acute and chronic effects, treatment
Day 8: Alcohol continued
Day 9: Government drug control strategies (supply vs. demand reduction)
reality vs. film portrayals Should illegal drugs be legalized? Which ones? Consequences?
Day 10: review; course wrap-up
Day 11: final exam
Day 1: Hollywood
High; Fear & Loathing in
Day 2: Reefer Madness, 1936, Louis Gasnier (67 mins);
Homegrown, 1998, Stephen Gyllenhall (1 hr 35 mins)
Day 3: Trainspotting, 1995, Danny Boyle (1 hr 33 mins); High School Confidential,
1958, Jack Arnold (1 hr 25 mins)
Day 4: Drug Store Cowboy, 1989, Gus Van Sant (1 hr 40 mins); Blow, 2001, Ted
Demme (2 hrs 04 mins)
Day 5: Scarface, 1983, Brian De Palma (2 hrs 50 mins)
Day 6: Go 1999, Doug Liman (1 hr 43 mins); The Lost Weekend, 1945,
Billy Wilder (1 hr 41 mins)
Day 7: Requiem for a Dream, 2000, Darren Aronofsky (1 hr 42 mins); Performance,
1970, Donald Cammell (1 hr 45 mins)
Day 8: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, 1966, Mike Nichols (2 hrs 11 mins)
Day 9: Barfly, 1987, Barbet Schroeder (1 hr 40 mins); Leaving Las Vegas, 1995,
Mike Figgis (1 hr 52 mins)
Day 10: Traffic, 2000, Steven Soderbergh (2 hrs 20 mins)
Do not submit professional reviews as your own, though it is appropriate and even suggested that you examine a variety of reviews in helping to arrive at YOUR OWN conclusions about the meaning of the movie. Be sure to answer all of the questions listed below. Originality will be rewarded, as will appropriate humor and insightful commentary. Relevance of the film to contemporary life is a worthy topic, as is the awareness of underlying metaphors, intentional or unintentional.
Typically the first or second lecture of the semester will be devoted to common student writing problems. It is imperative that you attend (and be attentive at) this lecture. Much of your subsequent writing grade will depend on adherence to the rules of writing presented at this lecture. For example, E. B. White suggested that writers beware the “leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words.” These leeches include “very, little, pretty, and really.”
1. Were drugs the
central theme of this movie? If not,
what was the
central
theme? What role did drugs play in this
film?
2. How did the
director use music, cinematography (e.g. camera angles), and dialog
when depicting
drug use?
3. Did you feel
that the movie made drug use attractive or unattractive?
Explain.
4. Putting the
film in historical context (relating it to the time it was made), what
were some of
the social problems/changes and attitudes influencing the film?
5. Did this movie present an accurate portrayal of
drug use/abuse? Why? Use
information
from readings and lecture in your explanation.