This was my final paper for my literature and psychology class, and was actually the best part of the class, which dealt very little with either topic in its title.
Most drug comedies portray the deviant drug user as the hero of the movie. These unlikely heroes often achieve their goals accidentally or without realizing it. The villains are almost always police or other law enforcement officials, or drug dealing criminals. When drug comedies first became popular, all the characters involved were very basic and stereotypical. Now that the use of drugs has become more socially accepted, these characters are better developed to be more representative of the whole drug culture rather than a few chosen stereotypes.
Perhaps the first, and certainly the most famous, drug comedies were the Cheech and Chong movies. These movies followed the two characters in their quest to smoke marijuana, avoid the police, pick up women, and play music, the goals of the majority of the drug culture in the late 70s and early 80s. Much of the comedy of the Cheech and Chong movies comes from the many stupid things they do while they are high. Even though they act foolish and are often completely unaware of their surroundings, Cheech and Chong end up being the heroes of their movies usually accidentally. Often times they do not understand or notice the events which allow them to become the heroes, but take it as good luck or coincidence.
One of the keys to the popularity of the Cheech and Chong characters is their representation of members of society who would be considered deviant and the heroes. Cheech, a Mexican, and Chong, a hippie, represented a large amount of American society who felt that they were unappreciated or undervalued simply because of their lifestyles. Many people who were not involved in the drug culture of the 70s can also relate to Cheech and Chong, as they are just two guys who are trying to live their lives who become heroes without trying to seek glory or fame. Similar types of drug-using characters have appeared throughout the comedy world with slight alterations, but the classic Cheech and Chong models still exist.
One notable alteration of the Cheech and Chong drug-using heroes are the characters in Dave Chappelle's Half Baked. In this movie three typical stoners quit their jobs to sell weed in order to raise money to bail their friend out of jail. This movie is a much more relaxed comedy and abandons most of the extreme stereotypes of marijuana smokers to show the many ways in which the drug is used. This is one of the first movies which depicts drug users as a large variety of people who are functional within society, rather than a minority group of outcasts.
The character of “The Dude,” in The Big Lebowski completely alters the stereotypical deviant hero of the drug user. The Dude character is one of the few characters in the movie who is rational and trying to live a normal life. In his attempts to live comfortably, which involves drinking a good many white Russians and smoking joints, he finds that all the sober people keep involving him in their crazy plans, ruining his life and doing massive damage to his car. As he says to Maude “Fortunately, I'm adhering to a pretty strict drug regiment to keep my mind limber.” (Big Big Lebowski) This takes the typical screw-up drug user and makes him the hero not because his screw-ups happen to go the right way, but because he maintains his reason in situations in which everyone else seems to go crazy.
As the use of drugs, especially marijuana, becomes more and more popular among American citizens, so does comedy which revolves around this drug usage. One of the benefits of this is the portrayal of drug users in many ways, as opposed to the following the stereotypes which group all drug users together. This can be seen in Half Baked and The Big Lebowski, but can also be seen in many other comedic forums, including the internet. In 2009, COED Magazine published a humorous article entitled “The 24 Types of Pot Smokers,” which groups marijuana smokers based on various personality traits, giving a brief description of the advantages and disadvantages of each type. The list includes such types as number 10 The True Stoner:
“This easy-going, goofy bastard always starts his days off with a wake-and-bake courtesy of his bedside bowl, followed by as much additional weed smoking as possible. He’ll always have just enough weed on him to keep him going through the day. That is, unless he just re-upped his stash, in which case he’ll smoke most of his bag the first night.” (COED Magazine)
This article and similar comedy regarding the wide variety of marijuana smokers in the United States shows the drastic rise of popularity in drug culture and comedy since the 70s. When the Cheech and Chong movies came out there were very few stereotypes about drug users, most of which revolved around the idea that they were lazy and stupid. Now that marijuana is used by a large percentage of Americans it covers a wider demographic of people, and the availability of material for use in drug comedy has grown.
One of the most original depictions of drug users comes from Grandma's Boy, in which the main character smokes marijuana with the video game testers he works with. This group, which is generally stereotyped as “nerds,” rarely makes appearances in drug comedies due to the conflicting characteristics between them and stereotypical drug users. This unique twist on the drug using hero shows once again the rapidly increasing demographics of drug users in America. This movie alters both the stereotypes of “nerds” and “stoners” to create interesting and well-balanced characters.
The opposite of Grandma's Boy's well-balanced characters can be seen in Kevin Smith's classic drug comedy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. This comedy follows Jay, the most stereotypical “stoner,” and his “'hetero-life-mate, Silent Bob,'” (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) a character who is silent save for a few brilliant lines in which he exposes his intelligence. Like many of Kevin Smith's other movies, this one is filled with non-stop humor from various genres including slapstick, childish jokes, dirty jokes, puns, celebrity jokes, and of course comedic drug references. In one scene Jay and Silent Bob arrive in Hollywood after hitch-hiking from New Jersey and discuss their jobs as marijuana dealers with local crack dealers. At one point Jay mentions that the drug dealers in New Jersey may soon have to go on strike if they do not start receiving medical benefits as part of the job. This scene is important because it shows drug dealers in the same light as other workers who are just trying to provide for themselves or their families.
One of the most recent popular drug movies produced in America, Pineapple Express takes a different approach than normal to drug comedy. This film, while seemingly an outrageous adventure of two unlucky marijuana smokers, can be interpreted as a satire of the entire question of the prohibition of marijuana. The movie opens with a scene in black and white in which the government is testing the effects of marijuana on the military. When the testee responds negatively to a question about his superior officer, the plant is deemed illegal. The rest of the movie is a ridiculous chain misfortune events in which the main characters must attempt to avoid criminals who get their money from selling large quantities of marijuana. As the main character, Dale Denton, says in one of the opening lines of the actual movie: “All this current system is doing is putting money in the hands of criminals, and it's making ordinary people like you and me deal with these criminals.” (Pineapple Express) When examined closely, the movie asks the audience why this process is considered sensible.
The satirical drug comedies are fewer and usually less popular than the typical drug comedy. One excellent recent satire was found in the animated TV show Sit Down Shut Up, in which high school teachers hire a pharmaceutical company to teach kids the dangers of drugs. This show compares pharmaceutical representatives to drug dealers in rival gangs because of the way they compete with one another for territory. It also show how these large companies use their massive resources to try to keep their consumers “brand loyal,” or buying solely from one distributor, so they can maximize their profits. The episode is meant to show the irony of keeping harmless drugs like marijuana illegal while we all use and depend on pharmaceutical drugs. Part of the satire thrown around in this episode questions the broadcast television rules made by the FCC that say that if drug use is discussed on television, negative consequences must be shown. This is a very direct way of comically questioning authority as a means of gaining psychological power over them.
The underlying principle of almost every comedic drug using character is his harmlessness. This allows the audience to sympathize with the main characters even though they are technically criminals, and automatically makes them wonder what is so wrong with recreational drug use. This particular brand of comedy gains its strength directly from defiance to authority, and authority figures represented in drug humor are often depicted as clueless or lazy. Drug related comedy allows tension to be released in a non-violent manner between those in power and the sub-cultures which disagree with them.
Anther important psychological element of drug comedies is the music played. Music is traditionally used in movies as a way of adding to the mood of the scene for the audience. In drug comedies music is always significant to the drug using characters and can be used to express a wide variety of their emotions, or simply to express the high regard for music which most drug users have. The Big Lebowski contains two scenes in which music and bizarre set designs are used to show The Dude's confusion and conflicting emotions. In Pineapple Express, music is used to add an uplifting feeling to scene in which the main characters temporarily forget their dilemma and have a good time smoking marijuana in the woods. In many movies such as Grandma's Boy, How High, and Half Baked, rap music is used during party scenes to convey the idea that everyone is enjoying themselves. The Cheech and Chong movies often included loud rock music during party scenes because rap was not yet as popular with the drug community.
The many elements which compose a drug related comedy are unique to this genre and each has its own psychological function. The overall psychological goal of a drug comedy is to make the audience sympathize with and better understand the drug community as a mostly harmless collection of individuals who are just trying to live their lives differently from mainstream society. Therefore comedians involved in the genre of drug comedy represent hope for all those involved in the drug community that one day they will not be persecuted for the ways they live their lives, but will instead be respected as productive members of society.
Works Cited
Grandma's Boy. Dir. Nicholaus Goossen. Perfs. Linda Cardellini, Allen Covert. Willshire 1, 2006.
Half Baked. Dir. Tamra Davis. Perfs. Dave Chappelle, Guillermo Díaz. Robert Simmons Productions, 1998.
How High. Dir. Jesse Dylan. Perfs. Method Man, Redman. Jersey Films, 2001.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Dir Kevin Smith. Perfs. Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith. Dimension Films, 2001.
“Math Lab.” Sit Down Shut Up. Cre. Mitchell Hurwitz. Perfs. Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Kristin Chenoweth. Adelaide Productions, 2009.
Pineapple Express. Dir. David Gordon Green. Perfs. Seth Rogan, James Franco. Columbia Pictures, 2008.
COED Magazine. “The 24 Types of Pot Smokers.” Found at: http://coedmagazine.com/2009/05/18/the-24-types-of-pot-smokers/
The Big Lebowski. Dir. Joel Coen. Perfs. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman. Polygram Filmed Entertainment, 1998.
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