Line #25 Film/ReeferMadness


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Reefer_Madness_3778.jpg]]
2	%%
3	Originally called ''Tell Your Children'', this anti-[[AntiquatedLinguistics marihuana]] film from [[TheGreatDepression 1936]] was directed by Louis Gasnier, and originally financed by a [[MoralGuardians concerned church group]] and intended for parents, but was picked up by producer Dwain Esper, who recut it as an ExploitationFilm. Today, it's in the public domain and considered SoBadItsGood, and has even inspired [[Film/ReeferMadnessTheMusical a 1998 musical satire, which itself was adapted into a well-received TV special]].
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5	As the film is in the public domain in the United States, freely witness the frightful toll of the new drug menace which is sweeping America [[https://archive.org/details/reefer_madness1938 on the Internet Archive]]. [[DrugsAreBad Don't do drugs, kids!]]
6	----
7	!!Provides examples of:
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9	* TheAggressiveDrugDealer: Jack won't hesitate to sell pot to whomever he can set his sights on. Blanche also qualifies, even if she's not an actual dealer; at one point, she uses ReversePsychology to goad Bill into trying a joint.
10	** That said, nobody in the movie is ever shown exchanging actual money for pot, instead choosing to just give it away, so calling them "dealers" isn't really that accurate.
11	* AnAesop: DrugsAreBad.
12	* AlternateDVDCommentary: The best way to watch. Creator/MikeNelson has done more than one, but in a pinch the goofy commentary of your stoned buddies will suffice. The film was also the subject of a live ''Podcast/RiffTrax'' presentation, expanding on Nelson's solo commentary on the Legend Films release.
13	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: When Jack's gun goes off, it is more or less pointed at the floor; meanwhile Mary is standing (or sitting) upright near the couch and facing the commotion. Somehow the bullet arcs up through the air and loops around to catch Mary in the center of her back.
14	* AttemptedRape: Ralph gets Mary stoned and tries to rape her.
15	* AxCrazy: When going over the government files on "marihuana," they talk about a teenager who became addicted to the drug and killed his family with an ax for some reason. It might have been an allusion to an actual person who was believed to have murdered his family while stoned (he was schizophrenic).
16	* BigBad: The unnamed boss of the drug ring.
17	* BigFancyHouse: The pot house is ''really nice'', even by today's standards.
18	* BloodlessCarnage: Mary is shot, and all that's visible is a little spot on her back.
19	* BreakingTheFourthWall[=/=]TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: At the end, the principal says that this could happen to anyone's children, like yours, or yours, or ''[[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou yours]]'' (repeating the OpeningCrawl; as such, it also counts as an example of {{Bookends}}).
20	* CelebrityResemblance: In the ''Podcast/RiffTrax'' commentary, the soda shop piano player is compared to [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Kramer]] and the Creator/MarxBrothers while Dr. Caroll is compared to [[{{Series/Alf}} Willie Tanner]] and The Judge is compared to Dick Cheney.
21	* CluelessAesop: The movie failed so ''badly'' at its [[AnAesop Aesop]] that it's used as a [[StrawmanPolitical strawman]] by people lobbying to legalize marijuana. Though then again, it might not have been the best idea to start the film by giving detailed instructions on how to make and even smuggle joints.
22	* CoolCar: The main teen characters have a then-brand-new Ford convertible sedan. Ironically, the use of StockFootage means the police cars shown are 5-8 years old (the equivalent of a 15-20 year old car today).
23	* DrivenToSuicide: Blanche, enforced by MoralGuardians as the Hays Code stated that no wrongdoer could go unpunished. Plea bargain? Screw you, jump out the window.
24	* DrugsAreBad: Well, ''duh''. Or at least, that's what it tries to say. Weed bad, but [[ValuesDissonance tobacco and alcohol are A-OK!]]
25	* EpicFail: This movie's message is that DrugsAreBad. It is ''impossible'' to take it seriously because of how over-the-top it is.
26	* EvenEvilHasStandards:
27	** Mae the drug moll doesn't like selling pot to teenagers, a qualm her partner Jack doesn't share.
28	** Ralph, whose near-rape of Mary leads to her death, is the only one of the gang who shows any remorse that Bill is convicted of her murder. Though it is implied that his attitude is primarily a side effect of marihuana usage.
29	** Pete, another member of the gang, tells the unnamed boss he draws the line selling it to kids.
30	* {{Fanservice}}: Funny how moral films backed by religious institutions always managed to sneak in a ton of cheesecake that the Hays Code would grudgingly allow because of the larger message the film was trying to send, as seen by Blanche's showing off of plenty of flesh.
31	** There is also a whole, uninterrupted minute of Mae getting dressed, even to the point where they show her hiking up her dress to put on her nylons.
32	* FrameUp: They try to frame Bill for Mary's death.
33	* FramingDevice: Dr. Carroll, the high school principal, relates the film's events while addressing a PTA meeting about the scourge of marihuana.
34	* FunctionalGenreSavvy[=/=]SingleIssueWonk: While he does prove to be correct, Dr. Carroll never even considers the possibility that Bill's aberrant behavior might be the result of any problem other than marihuana use.
35	* GagDub: ''Reefie's Madhouse'', which once aired as a celebration to 4/20 on Creator/G4TV. There was even a gag ''colorization'', with clown color pot smoke.
36	* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: The colorized version adds [[FunnyBackgroundEvent Funny Background Objects]] ForTheLulz.
37	* HaveAGayOldTime: "We educators can't do anything until the public is sufficiently '''aroused'''."
38	-->'''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic:''' I got some ''Playboy''s in the back. We can call it "pot porn."
39	* HesDeadJim: Even though none of the characters are medically qualified, they all know that Mary is dead right away.
40	* HollywoodLaw: All over the place. For one, [[ArtisticLicenseLaw plea bargains aren't dealt with in that way]].
41	* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Mary gets shot by accident.
42	* ImmediateSelfContradiction: In his closing statements at Bill's trial, the prosecutor states that "we are not interested in 'motive' so much as the act [of murder] itself!" He then immediately -- in fact, his very next sentence -- launches into an elaborate hypothesis concerning Bill's motive (to cover up an 'affair' with Blanche). There's also the fact that the prosecution expends quite some effort in establishing Bill's drug use, but the elaborate hypothesis never even mentions it.
43	* InsistentTerminology: Mari'''''h'''''uana.
44	* {{Irony}}: It's a good stoner flick.
45	* KarmaHoudini: Jimmy runs a man over with his car while stoned and gets away clean. Odd for a 1930s movie (since UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode had a rule about bad people not being able to get away with committing crimes) and especially odd for this movie.
46	* LaughingMad: Ralph has this in spades, even before he's declared legally insane.
47	* LeaveTheCameraRunning: There seem to be a lot of long, pointless shots in the movie, such as Bill dropping his book, picking it up, and dusting it off.
48	* LostAesop: The lead jurist won't accept one juror's "reasonable doubt" argument, but then he envisions a hanging noose, reminding him that a man's life [[{{Pun}} hangs]] in the balance. He then proceeds to '''deliberately ignore his own epiphany''' and continues bullying the jury with his viewpoint.
49	* [[MarijuanaIsLSD Marihuana Is LSD]]:
50	** Even less accurate, marihuana's shown as a violent narcotic. Hell, some of the posters for the film were covered with ''needles''.
51	** As several internet commenters noted during the Piano scene, "Well he's obviously smoking some very pure Methamphetamine but definitely not [[RunningGag marihuana]]."
52	* MiscarriageOfJustice: Bill is found guilty of Mary's murder even though he was framed, but it's averted at the last minute when Blanche admits that it was actually Jack's fault.
53	* TheMusical: The original film was later made into a highly popular stage musical in the late 90's, and then that was made into an award-winning Showtime movie in 2005.
54	* NerfArm: Seriously, someone was killed with a ''curtain rod''?
55	* NoIndoorVoice: The District Attorney.
56	* OneLiner:
57	-->'''Jimmy:''' Let's go, Jack, I'm red-hot!\
58	'''Jack:''' Better be careful how you drive, or the first thing you know you'll be ice-cold.
59	* OpeningCrawl: a particularly lengthy one. [[Podcast/RiffTrax Mike Nelson]] was not impressed.
60	* PoesLaw: By today's standards, definitely.
61	* RecklessGunUsage: Jack uses a loaded gun as a blunt weapon. The gun naturally goes off.
62	* RogueJuror: Subverted. One of the jurors at Bill's murder trial has doubts as to his sanity, but the others quickly buffalo him into voting for conviction.
63	* ShoutOut: The newspaper showing Bill's verdict also has a headline about ComicStrip/DickTracy.
64	* ShoutOutToShakespeare: The wholesome "high school students" rehearse ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''.
65	* SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty: ''Very much'' on the shiny side, especially considering the producers' intent. The aforementioned nicest drug hangout in cinematic history and new car, and all the young drug users are well-dressed.
66	* SmokingIsCool: Averted. This was one of the first attempts (if not ''the'' first) at making smoking look ''uncool'', and viewers might have a hard time believing they didn't set the studio on fire... Using "joints" which look ''exactly'' like factory-produced cigarettes is a contributing factor. On the other hand, it's notable that the two leads, Bill and Mary, are depicted as ''incredibly'' square even for 1930s standards -- "Gooooosh, ''hot chocolate!''" -- and yet are implied to smoke (regular tobacco) even before they get introduced to pot.
67	** The message is [[BrokenAesop slightly warped]], however, when we see an actual cigarette ad in the background, probably not for purposes of dramatic irony so much as [[NoBudget the use of unaltered locations as sets]].
68	* SpinningPaper: Minus the literal spinning, but still...
69	* SternOldJudge: Of the gruff older white man sort, who, coincidentally, is played by the same actor who appeared as a judge in Film/TheThreeStooges' ''Disorder in the Court'' later that same year.
70	* StockingFiller: Mae, getting dressed in an early scene.
71	* TheStoner: Averted -- ''No one'' in this movie behaves like a real-life stoner. Whatever they're smoking is some kind of powerful stimulant; [[ArtisticLicenseBiology it certainly isn't pot.]] In fact, the only side effect realistically depicted was the drug pusher's constant eating, which is funny considering that they list a fair number of accurate symptoms in the opening crawl.
72	* StonerFlick: Ironically. Many people first hear about it from someone who's watched it stoned.
73	* ThinkOfTheChildren: Invoked by the DA.
74	* TotallyRadical: Aside from the constant uses of alternate names for the drug, the poster in the page image calls "marihuana" a sweet "pill", dated slang, even for 1936, for a good time.
75	* WallOfText: The opening forward.
76	* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: All stories pertaining to the plot are given screaming headlines in the local newspapers.
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Context Film / ReeferMadness