Wednesday 22 July 2015

Reefer Madness (AKA Tell Your Children, The Burning Question, Dope Addict, Doped Youth, Love Madness)
Dir: Louis J. Gasnier
1936
**
Louis J. Gasnier's now cult classic Reefer Madness is just an old propaganda film from 1930's America. Yes they got it wrong, and maybe it's funny to watch when you're having a smoke of the green stuff but at the end of the day its actually quite dull to watch with only very fleeting moments of unintentional humour. It's cult status bemuses me somewhat, indeed, in this day and age whereby funny videos are shared on the internet all the time, Reefer Madness would be given minimal attention which I'm afraid it actually deserves. Students will still have the poster up for many years to come though (although I bet only half of them have seen it or have ever had a joint). Funny for about 10 minutes and is an interesting document of a 1930's republican viewpoint but nothing more.

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