Dissertation Proposal: The Glorified portrayal of drug use in the 1990s American Film
In my dissertation, I will look into the reason behind the change in the way drug use was portrayed in American films from a very negative representation in 1980s films to a much more positive one in the 1990s. I will discuss political, sociological, and cultural changes that took place during that time and explain in what ways they impacted 1990s film and the depiction of drugs.
I will start by summarising how addiction had been portrayed since the very beginning of the film but my main focus will be on explaining why the industry approach had changed so drastically in the 1990s. I will also reference political events and campaigns that took place in the 1980s and 1990s in the USA such as R. Regan and H.W. Bush’s War on Drugs, Clinton’s administration, and Generation X and their approach to the subject. I will also present examples of such glorified/positive representation as well as explain how different media such as music and literature influenced 1990’s film and how they affected the depiction of drug use in that era. I want to draw attention to the fact that those media are often intertwined together, especially film and music, and explain how that connection helped to change the portrayal of drug use in the 1990s and even made it more graphic than ever before. I find it important to being my research by finding information that would help to better understand why the portrayal of drugs in the film has been fluctuating over the decades from negative to strikingly more positive.
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Hooked In Film: Substance Abuse On The Big Screen by John Markert is a very informative source and upon reading it I came to the conclusion that this book will be of great help while working on my dissertation question. The book is split into chapters, each one describing different types of drug abuse and how they were portrayed on the big screen. It details to what extent drug use was presented and how big of a role in the film it played; if it was just a part of the lifestyle of one of the characters, and if yes, was the character an antagonist or a protagonist and how big of a part this character played. The first chapter focuses on the image and representation of drugs in films made between 1900 and 1959. For this particular subject, this era holds extreme importance as at that time drugs were used as an umbrella term, be it heroin, cocaine, or marijuana. This chapter talks about how those narcotics were treated domestically including how cocaine was taken to cure gums and teeth pain being one of the listed examples. During that time drug use was presented in a light-hearted manner and more often than not was inaccurate and rarely explicitly shown on the screen, it was more alluded to and talked about. Markert also touches upon the history of cinema and the temperance movement and their impact on society. That helps with better understanding the reason why substance abuse was rarely shown on the bigger screen, and why it was culturally unacceptable to show it in an explicit way. Markert draws a parallel between the temperance movement’s decline of significance and popularity which began around in the mid 50’s and the state of film and popular media at that time. The Man with the Golden Arm (1956) by Frank Sinatra changed the way the film industry treated drug abuse; drug abuse in that film was not only explicit but also crucially important to the plot. John Markert goes on to show how drug abuse has slowly started to become a part of the counter-cultural landscape, starting in the 60s and reaching its peak in the 90s. He again links that to the change in the social and political climate as well as points out massive differences between The Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, and Generation X in their approach to drugs and their longing for a more liberated lifestyle. He provides extensive data through statistics and charts and provides a well-researched and informative review of the said data to better explain what evolution the portrayal of drugs in the film had gone through. The detail in which Markert describes drug use is very insightful and informative. I find this book to be a necessary starting point as I need to acquire as much information on the portrayal of drug use through cinematic history as possible to be able to draw my own conclusions regarding the sudden change of said portrayal in the 90s. It also is a useful point of reference for further research on the issue.
The second source I will use is 'Here's Looking at You, Kid': Alcohol, Drugs, and Tobacco in Entertainment Media A Literature Review Prepared for The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University by Donald F Roberts and Peter G. Christenson. This report examines research on the frequency and nature of media portrayals of the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs, and, more briefly, the few studies that have examined the effects of exposure to such portrayals, particularly effects on children and adolescents. Results show that for television, alcohol remains the substance most likely to be portrayed; tobacco use has decreased markedly from the 1950s through the 1980s, yet has risen during the 1990s; and 'drug use portrayals appear to be more frequent in the 1990s than in the 1970s. Results for movies show that alcohol consumption occurs in almost all movies and has for many years; tobacco-use trends appear to parallel those for television; and drugs seem to parallel the increase seen in television. (Roberts and Christenson, 2000) This report is crucial to my further research as it shows that in the case of drug use its portrayal in the film was connected to the way people view drug use and that, on the other hand, was in most cases dictated by political and social campaigns. It also brings attention to the fact that because of the fact that films in the 1960s and 1970s explicitly showed drug abuse has resulted in increased drug use amongst younger people. The 1960s were the time of the countercultural revolution, young people protested traditional modes of authority, and experimentation with psychoactive drugs, however, their behavior was heavily criticized as this movement was widely associated with violence. This then has led the older generation with a much more strict view on illicit drugs and respect for authority to express their concern and disappointment which lead to what can be referred to as the “Just say no” era in the 1980s. This report further explains how the events which took place in that decade led to the creation of a counterculture which quickly became a huge part of popular culture; the young people began to rebel and their frustration soon became heard. This text draws a parallel between the music industry and the film industry in the 1980s and that changes in one often carried onto the other. Shift in the music industry and the emergence of genres such as grunge changed the way young people viewed their day-to-day life. The new generation of actors and musicians who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s offered a completely different approach to drug use and were vocal about it. They spoke about the inspiration the drug use brings them and that they are not afraid to be called slurs, e.g. junkie, and instead embraced those terms and built their image around it.
Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure by Dan Baum describes the anti-drug campaigns of the American government between 1967 and 1991 and puts an emphasis on the fact that those efforts were often futile. To better explain the reason behind the glorified portrayal of drug use in the 1990s it is important to have a good understating of the ongoing war against drugs lasting for almost 30 years. Baum draws attention to the fact that those campaigns were motivated by the never-ending war between Republicans and Democrats and their fight for power and that the length of those efforts to fight drugs has subsequently given the opposite result. The conservatives were vocal about their utter hatred for drug use whereas the liberals focused more on reducing the harm drugs cause to the society 'Eliminating all drug use is impossible… the proper role of the government is to reduce the harm that drugs do to individuals and society.' (Baum, p.94) Baum points out that people born during those years were simply fed up with the constant campaigns and expressed their disappointment that the politicians rather discuss drug use knowing that there are many opinionated people whose support they can gain instead of discussing things like unemployment and the effects of The Vietnam War. During late 1980s the American government continued on those anti-drug policies which at that point were a proven failure and documents revealing that the politicians were using massively distorted drug statistics to scare the American public into thinking there was a drug epidemic sweeping through the schools made people less and less interested in the issue. This book shows that not only has the War on Drugs failed to solve the perceived narcotics problem, it has aggravated it. People became desensitized, tired of the constant political campaigns and politicians lying purely to gain more support. This was even more evident among adolescence who began once again to oppose the authority in the early 1990s.
American Culture in the 1990s by Colin Harrison offers an insight into not only television and film trends of the decade but very well explains the shift in the music industry and the emergence of new music genres. Grunge and rap had a strong presence in mainstream music and musicians like Tupac Shakur and Kurt Cobain quickly became cultural icons. Both of those musicians were open about their drug use but they also were open about their everyday struggles and demons of the past. Their image appealed to those who grew tired of the mass-produced pop and glam rock the 80s was known for. Their music as well as their deaths left a huge impact on the 90s culture. Both Cobain and Shakur spoke about drugs in a mostly positive light and were vocal about enjoying drug use and the effect it has on their life and music. Harrison further explains their impact on popular culture, including film, and shows how their dementor influenced how drugs were seen by younger teenage fans.
Keeping the Beat: The Practice of a Beat Movement by Christopher Richard Carmona of Texas A&M University draws a parallel between The Beat Generation and the counterculture of the 1990s. “The Beat Generation has also blown back into the 1990s. “You can follow it directly from bohemians to hipsters to beatniks, then the folkies, civil rights, anti-war, hippies, and feminists. And then you saw a growing disgust with the balkanization of the civil rights movement. . . . The grunge thing is just about the same reaction as what the beats were doing in the '50s.” (Hart, 1993). Beatnik culture has become relevant once again, as adolescence of the 1990s saw themselves struggle the same way Beatniks were 35 years prior. Until the 90s mention of The Beat Generation was sparse, especially in popular culture, but that has drastically changed. Filmmakers began revisiting their art, documentaries, and film adaptations inspired by The Beat Generation were being realized, and musicians began openly admitting to taking inspiration from the Beatniks and often referenced them in their music. A huge part of that movement’s message was the rejection of economic materialism, experimentation with drugs, and sexual liberation and exploration. By bringing attention to their art it was impossible to avoid talking about drugs. Carmona brings attention to the similarity between the portrayal of Generation X and The Beat Generation movement. Both were seen as lazy and incapable of contributing to society. I find those parallels very important while talking about the glorified portrayal of drugs in the 1990s as Carmona’s work in great detail explains why a whole generation began to identify themselves with a 50s drug-crazed literary movement and how that influenced pop culture in that decade.
For this dissertation, I plan on focusing on textual analysis. Upon researching the issue I came to the conclusion that focusing on factual books, academic articles, and film both as a script and in the visual form, will be the best option. As I am discussing an issue regarding film in the 90s I found it important to also take into consideration information on how did the audience receive those films, how they were generally reviewed, and if that was different from how similar films were received in earlier decades. This issue is a complex one and I need to make sure to focus on both film as a medium and its effect on the society of the 1990s as well as on the sociological and political events that impacted and inspired it in the first place. Regarding any ethical issues, my dissertation topic does not breach University Ethic Guidelines nor are my research methods involving any experimental and unethical practices. I will also make sure to be careful with the way I sample and cite other work. The research schedule I plan on following consists of reviewing at least 5 texts per each of the categories that I have created to better organize my research; those categories are film history, drug representation in film, the political climate in the 50s, the political climate in 60s and 70s, the political climate in 80s and 90s, subcultures and countercultures of 60s and 70s, subcultures and countercultures of 80s and 90s, the history of the American War On Drugs, popular music in the 80s, popular music in the 90s, differences between Baby Boomers and Generation X, how portraying drug use in popular media affects the society. The glorification of drug use is not only a cinematic trend but a result of decades of changes in the American society and political scene as well as a result of huge differences between generations. The literature I have reviewed above relates to almost every single category I listed and I believe that this start has helped me to better understand the issue as well as understand what other fields I need to research.
Bibliography:
- Baum, D., 1996. Smoke And Mirrors: The War On Drugs And The Politics Of Failure. Little, Brown and Company.
- Carmona, C., 2015. Keeping The Beat: The Practice Of A Beat Movement. Doctorate. Texas A&M University.
- Goundar, Sam. (2013). Chapter 3 - Research Methodology and Research Method.
- Harrison, C., 2010. American Culture In The 1990S. Edinburgh University Press, pp.97-101.
- Hart, H., 1993. '50S BOHEMIA AND '90S GRUNGE ALL UNITED BY THEIR ALIENATION. [online] chicagotribune.com. Available at:
- Markert, J., 2013. Hooked In Film: Substance Abuse On The Big Screen. Lanham: Scarecrow Press.
- Roberts, D. and Christenson, P., 2000. Here's Looking At You, Kid': Alcohol, Drugs, And Tobacco In Entertainment Media. Columbia Univ., New York, NY. National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. Henry J. Kaiser Family.
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