Drugs are also an element of culture, in particular, cinematography. Often psychoactive substances are not shown as absolute evil in and of themselves. The filmmakers indirectly show the danger and harm of such substances. For example, if we consider Requiem for a Dream, we can see that the characters themselves are to blame for everything that has happened in their lives. Harold is a very difficult child who has already stolen several times from his mother’s television set in order to sell it on the black market and use the money to buy drugs. Over time, a very good idea appears in his head at first glance. Together with his friend and now colleague Tyrone, the guys resell heroin in order to save money and open his own fashion store with his girlfriend Marion, and in time to quit drugs.
As it seemed to Gary, he and his friends could quit using at any time. When Sarah gets worse from the harsh diets and doctor-prescribed pills when Harold’s plans turn into a collapse when Merion is no longer able to paint. Lastly, when Tyrone is put in jail, the clawed clutches of those battered illusions push the characters into the harsh world. Where they have to fight, but not for life, but for a dose, doing things not quite understandable to civilized society. Thus, the film clearly demonstrates the degradation of people as individuals, and drugs serve only as a tool, not a cause. In other words, the author shows that addiction to psychoactive substances is often a consequence and one of the stages of destruction, not the main cause.
As a counterexample to the previous example of drug abuse in film, consider the film Animals. This film is about a couple in love whose lives are also being destroyed by psychoactive substances. However, the point is that, in this case, the characters are trying to get out of the situation and cope with what’s going on. The author shows drugs as an absolute evil, an independent problem in which people are victims. Thus, this film presents an opposite point of view to the previous one, insisting on regret and treating drugs as a problem in itself that should be gotten rid of.