Trainspotting Drug Addiction and Drug Subculture Essay

Trainspotting Over the years, heroin and addiction have provided the subject matter for more than a few noteworthy films. The cult film Trainspotting, based on Irvine Welshs book of the same title, offers an attractive case study as it represents a wide view of British youth culture by considering a large number of issues such as the critiques of consumerism, Thatcherism, class stratification and gender identities. The film portrays the lifestyle of a group of young drug addicts which places its emphasis on youth culture and links it to the drug subculture, and while also involving female characters in this drug subculture it manages to successfully relate the issues of drugs and gender. Therefore I will attempt to trace the†¦show more content†¦This belief that tabloids instigate moral panic is prominent in the book Hooligan by Pearson (1983). He introduces us to the concept of moral panic and heightens our awareness of the image of the criminal. This concept was evident in the aftermat h of Trainspotting, as people believed that the major cities in Britain were all filled with drug addicts and that if you visited there you were putting yourself in serious danger of being mugged by one. Pearson believed that the public were put in a state of fear due to the misrepresentation of criminals in the tabloids. A fine example of this could be seen when, in Easter of 1964, the entire front page of many significant tabloids was plastered with stories of how youngsters had beaten up an entire town and a community had been invaded by a mob ‘hell bent on destruction. Mods and Rockers had been accused of assaulting local residents and destroying a great deal of public property. However, after extensive research, Cohen(1973) discovered that this was untrue and the amount of serious violence and vandalism estimated by the tabloids was actually very small. The typical offence throughout was not assault or malicious damage, but threatening behaviour. After Cohen confrontedShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Movie Trainspotting 1513 Words   |  7 PagesThe movie Trainspotting, released in the July of 1996, depicts a group of heroin addicts and their peers eking out an existence in 1980’s Edinburgh, Scotland. Based on a 1993 book of the same name by Irvine Welsh, the movie was a commercial success as well as critical one. It is ranked as the 10th best British movie of All Time by the British Film Institute in 1999 (Best 100 British Films). When the book was published Welsh was condemned for glamorizing heroin abuse, to which he responded that heRead MoreThe Sociological Paradigm Of Drugs And Drug Use1396 Words   |  6 PagesSocieties define both the meanings of drugs and drug experience, with the definitions differing radically among different societies as well as subcultures and subgroups within the same society. Social groups and cultures define what kind of drug taking is appropriate, for example, alcohol use might be seen as appropriate among o ne group and inappropriate among other groups, such as among women and men. They also define which drugs are acceptable and which are not. Society also spell out the socialRead MoreThomas Welshs Trainspottings Depiction Of Scotlands Heroin Addicted Subculture2195 Words   |  9 PagesTrainspotting’s depiction of Scotland’s heroin-addicted subculture elicits a number of questions regarding issues of heroin addiction, choice, and societal dissociation; questions which will be explored and subsequently answered in this paper. Jason Middleton notes that it has been argued that influential pop-culture works such as Trainspotting are to blame for â€Å"’glamorizing’ heroin and ‘making it look cool’† (Middleton). However, I argue instead that Trainspotting provides a complicated viewing of a besmirchedRead MoreBrief Bio of The Stooges3094 Words   |  12 PagesWhen you think of The Stooges whats the first thought that pops into your head? P robably a 50 year old, prune like, Iggy Pop running around like a mad yoke to the video for Lust For Life from the Trainspotting soundtrack. Thats okay. Im here to tell you about the original Proto-Punk (a nascent predecessor of punk) band, the intense, raucous and truly bizarre, The Stooges. Without this band would rock music have turned out the same way we know it? Would the evolution of punk vary from what