Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas

My initial reaction to the movie is highly unfavorable. In my opinion, it is extremely gruesome and unnecessarily vulgar. As I understand, the movie was considerably popular during the time of its inception and that it is still considered a ‘cult classic.’ Despite its popularity, as a public service, I warn the squeamish, as many scenes in the film made my stomach turn. After giving some more thought to the film, I realized that it was more socially relevant than I had originally given it credit for. The many critiques contained in the film were very pertinent to the social and political atmosphere during the time.
The film began with the quote: “He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.” This is a very insightful statement. One meaning that could be attributed to this statement is the abuse of mind altering substances such as alcohol and narcotics in order to escape the everyday pain of being human. This take on the quote sympathizes more with the abuser. However another way to look at the quote is that drug users are using drugs to escape their realities and responsibilities and in this, they become subhuman. There are many examples of the main characters making beasts of themselves. For example, at one point they are checking into the hotel and scaring the other guests as they are out of their right minds. They also trash their hotel room and when they leave it looks as though some ferocious beasts have wreaked havoc on the room (they leave blood on the walls, bodily excretions, a pool of water across the entire room). Another way they make beasts out of themselves is by constantly mentally removing themselves from other humans. They interacted with other humans much in the same way that animals do…they were present but in a sense they were subhuman due to their inability to communicate with anyone. Their actions, as are the actions of any drug addict or alcoholic, are merely temporary. Using illegal drugs to treat their problems was like putting a band-aid on staff infection during its beginning stages. Sure, the band-aid will cover the small mark, but the infection is bound to spread and the small bandage will no longer be able to conceal the problem. In their case, drugs were only a concealer to issues that were much larger than their figurative “band-aid.” Once they come down from that weekend-long high that they were on, all of their problems (in addition to the many problems that they made for themselves while intoxicated) will all be waiting on them. So, no, drugs did not relieve the pain of being a man.