Full Description
Drug prohibition laws began to emerge in the United States, Canada, and Britain during the same era that saw the discovery of film. In Hooked, Susan C. Boyd explores over a century of American, British, and Canadian films containing fictional representations of drug use, the drug trade, and the war on drugs. She examines not only popular, mainstream films but also counterculture, alternative, and 'stoner' movies, including Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, and Trailer Park Boys: The Movie.
On-screen depictions of drug use and trafficking are powerful indicators of evolving socio-cultural attitudes towards illegal drugs. Using films such as Broken Blossoms, The Trip, Superfly, Traffic, and Trainspotting, Boyd explores how illegal drugs are linked to discourses of the Other, nation building, and law and order. Her discussion takes into account issues of race, class, and gender, and includes an important analysis of representations of women. A fascinating and groundbreaking study, Hooked uncovers the links between cinema and the cultural production of myths and stereotypes related to illegal drugs.
Contents
Contents
List of Film StillsixAcknowledgmentsxi Introduction11Moral Regulation, Film Censorship, and Law102 Illegal-Drug Users and Addiction Narratives:
The Early Film Years303 The 60s On: Counterculture, Addiction-as-Disease, and
Mandatory-Treatment Narratives634Ruptures in Addiction Narratives: Pleasure, Harm Reduction,
Consumer Culture, and Regulation935Drug Dealers: A Nation Under Siege1126Vilified Women and Maternal Myths1467Challenges to the Drug War: 1980 to 2006178Appendix209Notes213References227Index241
