Critical Investigation Task #3 Historical text analysis and research

Key Notes in the Film: 

Reefer Madness was originally made as "Tell Your Children" and is a 1930's American propaganda exploitation drama drug addiction film revolving around the melodramatic events that ensure when high school students are lured by pushers to marijuana , that they don't cave in as this will lead to manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape (madness). The film was directed by Louis Gasnier and starred a cast composed of mostly unknown actors. It was originally financed by a church group  and was intended to be sown to parents as a morality tale attempting to teach them about the dangers of cannabis use. 

The significance within the opening (how drugs are portrayed to a passive audience)

• At the beginning there is a note for the viewers appologising in advance for the upcoming content and the "menace" which is "destroying American youth".  "Marijuana is a violence narcotic" and is "the real public enemy". - note to self: the media are selective with what 'news' is in relation to Gautung and Ruge's News Values - in relation to drugs (print newspaper articles: "Cocaine Kate". 
• Directly addressing parents "Your son/daughter" (to be in contact with drugs..) - Moral Panic upon a 1930's audience 
• Zoom close ups of drug scandals on newspaper covers; similarly still exists in UK news - e.g. "Cocaine Kate", The Sun. Non-diegetic parallel classical music accentuating panic among an audience. 
• White A class American teacher/professor projects views in relation to the negativity and "danger" associated with drugs, upon a passive audience (the parents and an audience).  The scene resonates imagery of dictatorship within the government associated with the political views of the drug war.
• Initially, the 'dictator' had his back turned to an audience (Medium Long Shot) and facing the parents, which reverted to a medium close up of the professor addressing the viewer placing us in the seats of the parents he was addressing. 
• Documentary news style aesthetic is illustrated through the scene changing while the professor's voice becomes non-diagetic sound as he describes the panic revolved around marijuana while the scene captures high angle shots of marijuana fields. - this style of editing adds a sense of realism to the production emulating similar features to watching to the news.  

Comparing this to "Run: Richard" 

• One could interpret "Reeffer Madness" to be a text that ultimately intended to educate a 1930's audience, however, a 21st century audience would dispute this and argue that in fact injects moral panic upon a passive audience, (Hypodermic Needle Model and Cohen), revolved around drugs. This contrasts greatly with "Run" by Channel 4, a social realistic production that can also be interpreted as a text that intended to inform audiences. However, it is prime Channel 4's approach differed greatly in terms of representation of drugs and those associated with them. The production is clearly capturing the social effects and consequences circulated around drugs and those dependent on them, whilst refraining from dehumanising and injecting panic upon audience groups. One could argue that this is due to the increasingly desensitised social norms that are forming in society in comparison with the early 20th century. 
• The text "Reefer Madness" in juxtaposition with "Run: Richard" provides sufficient evidence towards the differing approaches that British drug related texts have in comparison with American texts. The evolution of American related drug productions using "Reefer Madness", "Scarface", "Miami Vice" , are model examples of the moral panic in terms of drugs and youth and drugs and ethnic minorities that American productions happily highlight. In comparison, with the arguably more raw approach that Britain has towards drugs and how the honesty that is depict them within the film platform. 

Issues and debates: 

• Stanley Cohen's 'Moral Panic' - the opening of the production, where the professor directly addresses the audience, in a news style bulletin format, is a prime example of the director's attempt to inject worry and fear upon a 1930's audience regarding the use of drugs amongst the youth. This is therefore a negative illustration of the "youth" as "young, wild and reckless",  and despite the production being a non-fictional film, it almost serves as an informative tactic for producers to inject fear upon audiences and marginalise drugs as a bad thing in society. This is further evident through the fact that they compare the use of marijuana to be worse than cocaine and heroin, which has scientifically proven to be true and in modern society is a social norm. 

Theories: 

Audience

• Blumbler and Katz - In terms of 'Surveillance', as information about the world was decreasingly accessible in the early 20th century, audiences relied on the niche amount of news that they were able to access from TV and Cinema, as well as film productions to be educated about what was happening in society. Therefore, 'Reefer Madness' acts as informative product to insight audiences about drugs, their effects and how they will impact society, (through the eyes of the director). 
• Adorno's Hypodermic Needle Model - The audience that are presented as passive creatures on screen (the parents), which accurately reflects the behaviour of the 1930's audience as they are directly addressed by the professor about the danger of their children being in contact with drugs. 
• Stuart Hall -  The dominant reading of drugs being portrayed as a negative and dangerous weapon that will destroy society and the youth, was accentuated. 

How does this show how the genre/society/issue has changed?

• There are many ways to identify the evolution of the drug war when comparing the two texts "Reefer Madness, 1939" and "Run: Richard". It is firstly evident through the specific drug is being represented - marijuana is a B class drug and "Reefer Madness", created an extreme moral panic in association with it and it's effects on the youth. Whereas, in 2013, "Run: Richard" revolves around a heroin addict, which is an A class drug and instead of the production embodying a panic around the drug and the dependent, it instead educates the audience about the social effects without dehumanising the character. However, a noteworthy point to recognise is the fact that this could be due to the opposing countries that are producing the texts - America v.s. Britain.