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1[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reefer-madness-the-movie-musical-movie-poster-2005-1010417781_9165.jpg]]
2
3->''Creeping like a communist''
4->''It's knocking at our doors''
5->''Turning all our children''
6->''Into hooligans and whores!''
7-->--'''TheNarrator''', "[[TitleTrack Reefer Madness]]"
8
9In 1998, writing partners Dan Studney and Kevin Murphy ([[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 no, not]] ''[[Podcast/RiffTrax that]]'' [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 one]]) took a road trip from UsefulNotes/{{Oakland}} to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles and came up with the idea for a [[TheMusical musical adaptation]] of the 1936 propaganda film ''Film/ReeferMadness'' (aka ''Tell Your Children!''). By the time they arrived in LA, they had written the first song.
10
11As you might expect, the project eschewed that [[SoBadItsGood unintentional satire]] of the original for ''very'' intentional satire. It enjoyed several successful stints on stage, and Studney and Murphy adapted their book into a MadeForTVMovie, directed by [[Film/ShesTheMan Andy]] [[Film/PaulBlartMallCop2 Fickman]]. Premiering on Creator/{{Showtime}} on [[MeaningfulReleaseDate April 20]], 2005, the ensemble features Creator/AlanCumming, Creator/KristenBell, Christian Campbell, Creator/StevenWeber, Creator/AnaGasteyer, Creator/NeveCampbell and Creator/JohnKassir.
12
13The stage production and film use the original's framework, opening with a group of concerned parents congregating for a film presentation, proffered by a man who just oozes ulterior motive. The [[FilmWithinAFilm movie he shows]] tells the story of Jimmy Harper and Mary Lane, two upstanding, innocent teenagers, whose lives devolve into a [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking twisted spiral of sex, violence and snack food]], courtesy of the evils of marihuana. All the while, the original audience reacts with revulsion, shock and the occasional incredulity.
14----
15!!''Reefer Madness: The Musical'' provides examples of:
16
17* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: Mary and Jimmy are studying ''[[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Romeo and Juliet]]'', starting with the "proo-low-gwee".
18* AdaptationExpansion: In the stage show, [[spoiler:Mae's]] summoning of FDR is laughed off under RuleOfFunny as "It's a funny story," and dropped. In the film, FDR is established as being in town earlier, and even contains a sequence of her fighting through his guards to talk to him.
19* AdaptationInducedPlothole:
20** Both stage and screen end with [[spoiler:FDR saving Jimmy's life by giving him a presidential pardon]]. However, in the movie, the Lecturer calls him a reckless lunatic, so his heroic role in the propaganda film makes much less sense.
21** The play took place loosely over a few months, but the film adaptation added a plot point about FDR arriving in town for a dance competition two weeks after the beginning of the [[ShowWithinAShow film-within-a-film]], meaning that it took less than two weeks for Jimmy to be [[spoiler:convicted of murder and sent to the electric chair]].
22* AdaptationNameChange: In the 1936 film, the character Sally is based on is named Blanche.
23* AllMusicalsAreAdaptations: A film version of a stage musical adaptation of a cult classic 1930s exploitation film.
24* AngelicBeauty: In the song "Listen to Jesus, Jimmy!", Jesus is joined by a dozen backup singers/showgirls dressed in sexy angel outfits.
25* AngryMobSong: The very end of the film, complete with book-burning bonfire. Considering [[BatmanGambit the motives of the Narrator]], it must mean his lecture was a rousing success.
26* AnthropomorphicFood: The pot-brownie-as-prostitute that Jimmy has sex with in "The Brownie Song" animated segment.
27* ArcNumber: 420[[note]]a number/phrase associated with pot culture due to MemeticMutation[[/note]] appears throughout the film, including a time on a clock, the street address of the hash house, and the hymn board in the church.
28* ArcWords: Onstage, anytime one of the downfalls of weed is shown, the actors will briefly freeze in a tableau as the phrase [[TitleDrop "reefer madness"]] is sung over the scene.
29* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: "''My innocence ravaged! / My virtue devoured! / I can't count the strangers with whom I have showered!''"
30* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Near the end, [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt FDR]] declares that they can fight the scourge of marijuana through the papers of William Randolph Hearst. The real FDR would never say that, given that Hearst was outspoken about his ''absolute hatred'' of the second Roosevelt administration.
31* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:Ralph]] goes completely off the deep end in the second act[[spoiler:... it's no help, however, that (at least in the movie musical) he's plagued by visions of Jimmy and Mary being terrorized and sodomized by {{Satan}}.]]
32* BadGirlSong: "Little Mary Sunshine" combines the FaceHeelTurn of the innocent Mary, whose single run-in with marijuana leaves her fit to be tied.
33* BaitAndSwitch: The Narrator asks Principal Short "What is the human condition so powerful it can stave off all that is black and evil in these confusing times?" and taps a bulletin board filled with a collage illustrating ThePowerOfLove. When Principal Short tentatively answers "Love?" The Narrator launches into an "[[InAWorld In a time...]]" tirade berating the principal and the idea "that love will carry the day".
34-->'''The Narrator:''' The correct answer is, of course, ''vigilance''.
35* BeatStillMyHeart: Mae, after beating Jack to death, rips out his heart at the end of "The Stuff" reprise.
36* BewareTheNiceOnes: Subverted. The nice ones are the nice ones. But once they start smoking, they cause more trouble than the bad guys.
37* BetweenMyLegs: Jesus crawls through a tunnel of legs in "Listen to Jesus, Jimmy" in the film.
38* BigRedDevil: [[{{Satan}} The Devil]] shows up as a red guy with horns to tempt Jimmy into a life of marihuana in the "Listen to Jesus, Jimmy" song.
39* BlackComedy: A '''lot''' of humor is gotten out of drug addiction, infidelity, rape, murder and cannibalism.
40* BlackComedyRape: Unlike [[RapeAsDrama the 1936 film it was based on]].
41* BlatantLies:
42--> I'm not addicted, no / I just enjoy the glow
43* BreadEggsMilkSquick: During the DarkReprise of "Romeo and Juliet":
44-->We're happy, young and-- [''coughs hoarsely'']
45-->Hemorrhaging blood!
46* BondageIsBad: PlayedForLaughs. After [[GirlNextDoor Mary]] takes ''one hit'' of that [[DrugsAreBad evil reefer]], she fantasizes about being a dominatrix to show her descent into [[AC:debauchery!]]
47* ChekhovsGun: Jack using more than one bullet to kill [[spoiler:Ralph]] may seem like a joke at first, but he's out of bullets when [[spoiler:Mae tries to kill him]].
48* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Essentially the joke behind "Romeo and Juliet".
49-->I bet Romeo
50-->Marries his Juliet
51-->They have a baby, and make lots of friends!
52-->That's probably the way the play ends!
53* CompositeCharacter:
54** Jimmy Harper is Jimmy Lane and Bill Harper from the original combined into one character.
55** The Goat Man from "The Orgy" and the BigRedDevil are separate characters in the film and many productions, but some shows combine the two since the former's {{Baphomet}}-[=like=] appearance makes him something of a SatanicArchetype anyway.
56* CountingBullets: Jack fails to keep track of how many shots it took to take down [[spoiler:Ralph]], so when he threatens [[spoiler:Mae]] with his revolver, it's empty.
57* DarkReprise:
58** The reprise of "Romeo and Juliet", sung as [[spoiler:Mary is dying]], replaces the line "bubbling with love" with "haemorrhaging blood".
59** Onstage, "Listen to Jesus, Jimmy" receives one at Jimmy's execution, where he pleads to Jesus to save his soul from Hell, only for Jesus to say he's just there to gloat and watch the show, and it's too late for any sort of penitence.
60* DeathByAdaptation:
61** After [[spoiler:Ralph]] goes insane, he's shot instead of being institutionalized.
62** [[spoiler:Sally]] dies earlier than her 1936 counterpart.
63* DeliberateValuesDissonance:
64** A parent at the assembly has trouble pronouncing "marijuana", and repeats "merry Jew?' several times.
65** The Narrator mistakes Mr. Kochinski's name as Russian rather than Polish, and implies that either way this makes him a DirtyCommunist.
66** In the movie, the Lecturer also explains the link between reefer and [[CreepyJazzMusic jazz]]... calling jazz musicians "weed-blowing" and "ginger-coloured" in the process.
67** In a song cut early in the show's run, Jimmy's parents educate him on: oversexed, pot-smoking "darkies", the wily, opium-fuelled Chinese, and lazy, heroin-addicted Mexicans.
68** Sally gets rid of her baby by giving it to a Chinese restaurant owner, with the heavy implication that he's going to [[ImAHumanitarian put the infant to good use in his business]]...
69--->'''Chinese restaurant owner:''' Care to stay for... dinah?\
70''[Cue the assembly glancing at the sole Asian woman among them, who sinks in her seat]''
71
72** "Tell 'Em The Truth" puts Communists and queers on the mob's hitlist after [[UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin Darwin]], [[UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud Freud]], and smut.
73* DeliciousDistraction: The entire joke behind "The Brownie Song".
74* DeusExMachina: Parodied, of course, when [[spoiler:FDR appears and pardons Jimmy]].
75* DiedHappilyEverAfter: In the final song, [[spoiler:Mary is released from Purgatory and Jimmy tells her to wait for him. "One day I'll get cancer, or hit by a train!" Some stage productions like to make up new ways for him to die, such as "eaten by wild bears."]]
76* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: [[spoiler:Sally]] and [[spoiler:Jack]]. In the original, he was killed by an insane [[spoiler:Ralph]], and she committed suicide after testifying against the dope ring. In the musical, [[spoiler:Sally]] is given [[spoiler:Jack's]] death and he manages to triumph over [[spoiler:Ralph]], but ends up dying in a similar matter anyway after [[spoiler:Mae]] betrays him.
77* DisneyAcidSequence: "The Brownie Song" in the film.
78* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Downplayed. While it's played as BlackComedy, [[spoiler:Mary]] forcing herself on Ralph is shown to be clearly not "okay". Still, if it ''was'' reversed, it would be a huge case of DudeNotFunny.
79* DrivenToSuicide: In the original stage version, [[spoiler:Mae throws herself off a building after she's unable to prevent Jimmy from being executed]]. Averted in the movie and current stage show.
80* DumbBlonde: Both Mary and Sally in the film. Mary is the sweet but hopelessly naive kind, while Sally is promiscuous and constantly bumping into things.
81* EverybodyDiesEnding: The original version of the show ended with [[spoiler: Mary getting shot and ending up in Hell, Sally being eaten by Ralph, Ralph being taken out by Jack, Jack being beaten to death by Mae, Jimmy being forsaken by God and executed, and Mae committing suicide. Even the Placard Girl gets killed after Mae lands on her.]] The movie and later productions avert this by sparing some characters.
82* FaceHeelTurn: Jimmy and [[spoiler:Mary]]... after one puff of marijuana.
83* FanserviceExtra: Onstage, a bikini-clad girl will occasionally cross the stage with a sign with a message on it.
84* FetishizedAbuser: [[spoiler:Mary]], under the influence of reefer.
85* FieryRedhead: When Mae isn't being controlled by her addiction, she is strong-willed and easily a match for Jack.
86* FootPopping: Jimmy and Mary both do this at one point during "Romeo and Juliet".
87* FramingDevice: An unnamed Lecturer (implied to be a government official) is showing a small town PTA a "presentation" on the dangers of marijuana. In the film, the framing device is shot in black and white while the presentation is in colour. [[spoiler:That is, until the very end, when the framing device suddenly turns to colour and the PTA are interacting with characters within the presentation (including those who died).]]
88* FreudianThreat: Jesus warns Jimmy that if he goes to hell for smoking marijuana, he might be forced to endure "separation from your family jewels".
89* FunnyBackgroundEvent: There are dozens scattered throughout, but the most clear example is Shakespeare himself officiating the wedding between Romeo!Jimmy and Juliet!Mary in their fantasy. While they go off on a tangent about [[ComicallyMissingThePoint the happy ending Romeo and Juliet probably have]], Shakespeare looks increasingly worried and even shakes his head a few times before just giving up.
90* GenderFlip: The owner of the Five and Dime is changed from male in the original film and play to female in the 2005 film version. This was done to create a role for Creator/NeveCampbell.
91* GoodHairEvilHair: Jack's mustache falls squarely in the evil "pencil mustache" category.
92* HaveAGayOldTime:
93** InUniverse: "A ''madam'' runs a different kind of house."
94** "Don't get queer on me!"
95* HeadTurningBeauty: Sally. If she can’t turn you on, you ain't got switches.
96* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Jimmy during the final song.]]
97* HopeSpot:
98** The original play does this twice in a row. First, when Jimmy is [[spoiler:about to be executed for Mary's death]] Jesus interrupts in a literal DeusExMachina, but he quickly reveals that he’s just there to gloat for not taking his advice. Just when Jimmy thinks he’s truly done for, [[spoiler:Mae interrupts with a presidential pardon]], but after everyone celebrates, Jimmy [[spoiler:, still in the electric chair, is accidentally electrocuted]].
99** The film cuts both of these, removing the first scene entirely and softening the second into a straight happy ending. Meanwhile, the revised play reinserts the first HopeSpot, but keeps the happier ending.
100* HotterAndSexier: The original was already considered an exploitation film, but due to being on cable seventy years later it's taken up several notches.
101* HumbleGoal:
102-->I've taken a life,\
103Been stripped to my essence,\
104And to think all I wanted was ''swing dancing lessons!''
105* ImAHumanitarian:
106** [[spoiler:Ralph]] when he gets the 'munchies'.
107** The Chinese in the movie are also suggested to be this.
108--->'''Chinese restaurant owner''' ''[to Sally's baby]'': Care to stay for... dinah?
109* TheIngenue: Mary Lane. She's a sixteen year-old girl who loves babies, considers 9pm the middle of the night, and apologizes to God for the [[FelonyMisdemeanor mortal sin]] of lying about a seat being taken. She even provides the page quote.
110* InUniverseFactoidFailure: With ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. It's one of the most well-known tragic endings in history, but the two teenage leads seem to think it's an idyllic love story. The musical itself [[InvokedTrope makes a point]] to give us the true {{aesop}}. [[spoiler: After a brief kerfuffle that ends with Mary getting shot, Jimmy looks to Jack & Mae, who shake their heads at Mary's inquiry of "did they love until they grow old?" So he proceeds to lie about the original play's ending as he comforts a dying Mary in his arms, [[LetThemDieHappy letting Mary at least pass on peacefully]]]].
111* JesusWasWayCool: Even though he supports the anti-marijuana stance that the musical parodies, Jesus makes up for it with an awesome song, a WalkingShirtlessScene, and a troupe of sexy, angelic backup singers. He also offers TheMoralSubstitute of getting high off God.
112* KarmicRape: This happens during "Little Mary Sunshine", in which Ralph's marijuana-facilitated attempted seduction of Mary [[GoneHorriblyRight works a little TOO well]].
113--> '''Ralph:''' Help! This crazy tomato's RAPIN' me!
114* LastMinuteReprieve: Jimmy is about to be executed after being framed for murder, but he's saved in the nick of time by Mae and FDR.
115* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In the stage show, everyone from the Lecturer to Jesus will directly address the audience.
116--> Mary Lane, Oh, Mary Lane\
117Will help you sing a new refrain.
118* LetThemDieHappy: [[spoiler:In the DarkReprise of "Romeo and Juliet", Jimmy lies about the ending of the original play in order to let Mary pass on peacefully after he accidentally (and fatally) shoots her.]]
119* LimitedWardrobe: Ralph only ever wears a tattered fraternity sweater from his old college.
120* ALoveToDismember: Ralph decapitates [[spoiler:Sally]] when he becomes AxCrazy and tries to eat her, then later kisses her severed head.
121* MarijuanaIsLSD: Just like in the original, but this time it's played for laughs. Actors appearing in the stage show are instructed to act like they're on crack, rather than pot.
122* {{Metaphorgotten}}: "Mary Jane/Mary Lane", {{Lampshaded}} by Mary.
123-->'''Mary Lane:''' I don't know what you're talking about, but I like the sound of it!
124* TheMoralSubstitute: In-universe example: in the film version, at the end of "Listen To Jesus, Jimmy," Jesus challenges Jimmy to "take a hit of God" and see if he can "handle the high". Jimmy refuses, saying, "I've got a ''new'' god now!"
125* MovieBonusSong: "Mary Jane/Mary Lane" was written for the film as a replacement of both the more static Jimmy lamentation song "Dead Old Man" and the act break songs "Act One Finale" and "Jimmy on the Lam". This was done to make the story flow better in a movie format, but the song went over so well (and won an UsefulNotes/{{Emmy|Award}}) that it was added to the stage show, replacing "Dead Old Man" there as well.
126* NietzscheWannabe: Easy to miss (as it's during the climax of "Murder") but Jack is of the opinion that 'the winner is the last one left alive.'
127* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: In the TriumphantReprise that is The "Stuff" during Mae’s HeelFaceTurn, she delivers this to Jack with a garden hoe.
128-->'''Mae:''' [[AndThisIsFor This one's for Ralph, Jack! Here's one for Sally too! Had enough?! Yeah, you're not so tough!]]
129* NoKillLikeOverkill: In the movie, this happens to both [[spoiler:Ralph, who gets shot ''6 times'' before finally dying after getting impaled]] and [[spoiler:Jack, whom Mae beats to death with a garden hoe before ripping out his heart]].
130* OffscreenTeleportation: Jesus keeps doing this during the "Listen To Jesus, Jimmy" musical number. Seeing that he's Jesus, it's completely [[JustifiedTrope justified.]]
131* ASaintNamedMary: Mary Lane, who is not only kind and innocent, but is also stated to "love babies" and is sincerely religious.
132* OnlySaneMan: Mr. Kochinski is the only person in the audience to question the Narrator's propaganda. Interestingly, the trope appears to be deconstructed since by the end, Mr Kochinski is enthusiastically taking part in the conservative rally/book-burning and is completely convinced by the story despite repeatedly questioning it earlier. In a twist, it turns out the ''real'' OnlySaneMan is actually the Lecturer, who is the only one fully aware that what he's presenting is pure propaganda and it's heavily implied at the end that he doesn't fully believe it himself.
133* PinkGirlBlueBoy: In the movie, Mary wears pink with the exception of a [[TrueBlueFemininity blue skirt]] and Jimmy always wears blue. This emphasizes their nature as a perfect couple to the conservative in-universe audience.
134* PragmaticAdaptation: A most triumphant example, as some changes made for the movie, like "Dead Old Man" being replaced by "Mary Jane/Mary Lane" and "The Truth" replacing the reprise of "Reefer Madness," were so popular that most stage productions now include those changes.
135* ShoutOut:
136** The song "Murder!" includes the line "Open the gate and abandon hope", a reference to the inscription over the Gate of Hell in ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''.
137** [[Theatre/{{Annie}} "A little orphan girl once told me that the sun would come out tomorrow. Her adopted father was a powerful billionaire, so I suppressed the urge to laugh in her face."]]
138** The Brownie's character design in the animated Brownie Song sequence bears a resemblance to ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop''
139* SillyLoveSongs: "Mary Jane/Mary Lane", where Mary Lane and Jimmy wax eloquent about how ThePowerOfLove will save him. Every other character in the film even joins them, some by breaking character or coming back from the dead.
140* SpitTake: Evidently Satan did not expect Jimmy to turn Jesus down on his sales pitch.
141* SparedByTheAdaptation: While the original play ended with [[spoiler: every major character]] dead, the 2005 movie and subsequent productions of the play keep [[spoiler: Jimmy and Mae]] alive as per the 1936 original.
142* TheStinger: If the audience sticks around after the credits, they are rewarded with [[spoiler:Satan laughing in their face]].
143* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFGJXVhyVDQ "Shut up, bitch!"]]
144* TriumphantReprise:
145** Mae's reprise of "The Stuff."
146** In the stage version Jesus reprises "Listen to Jesus, Jimmy" at [[spoiler:Jimmy's execution]] to mock him for not listening to him.
147* WidowedAtTheWedding: In the film version, Jimmy Harper and Mary Lane imagine themselves at their wedding when Mary was shot during the gun struggle between Jimmy and Jack the dope dealer, singing the reprise of "Romeo and Juliet" while Mary [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dies in Jimmy's arms]].

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