Stephanie Vega Week 3 Analysis

I am responding to the previous cultural appropriation of drugs that seemingly popped into daily lives, through media platforms including commercials and movies. Scenes provide a euphoric experience, as if anesthetizing the audience with the drug of the main character. Earlier commercials for tobacco advertising was legal in the 1950’s and 60’s, frequently showing that cool guy on his bike with the girl of “everyones” dreams, puffing out the cloud of smoke, caressing the lit cigarette between his lips eventually getting the message, “this could be you too”. In relation to the clip of Vincent Vega (Pulp Fiction) shooting up heroine, the USA has recently reopened the books in the crisis of the climbing numbers of heroine use/deaths and overdoses. The USA has a quite an extensive history with heroine, interestingly opiums were promoted as a cure for alcoholism. 

I used youtube for the shorter clip of the specific scene I had in mind about and my laptop to formulate my response. I was initially on Netflix watching Pulp Fiction for the probable 100th time and all I thought about was the dominance of heroine as its own character. In my sociology class last semester we talked a lot about HIV/Heroine and its ultimate presence and downfalls in the healthcare system. I was most concerned with having to rely on my laptop for typing, its’ just an instinct for me and I would assume others as well, to just whip out Microsoft word and get to typing. I wish I could’ve wrote my thoughts out about the commercial and somehow made it formally legible to a piece that would remind me of Goldberg’s Straight Photography. 

I made the choice to make the music somewhat present in my writing, the clip from Pulp Fiction had no dialogue, just a song by The Centurions, ‘Bullwinkle Part II. The song wasn’t this sad, depressing song as the audience watches something so sad happen, a man shooting up heroine, its’ as if I didn't want to help him, I wanted to just sit there and watch his experience. The POV used in the movie alone makes me love it aside from being directed by a personal favorite (Tarantino).  The scene reminded me of cigarette commercials and the consumption and awe of what the media drugs us with, a constant barrage of alcohol and over the counter medication, that if used incorrectly will surely cause major side effects, specifically addiction. It didn't make sense to me to use a surfer like song over this scene until I began writing the specifics of the scene and realized the song is as important, so why not present it in someway.