Reefer Madness: Sharp Satire From A Blunt Subject

I really wish that I had taken the time to write this yesterday, since it was 420 all day long. Anyway, like Sweeney Todd, I have not seen this one on the stage (partly because it wasn't around for long), but I saw the Showtime movie adaptation, which starred much of the same cast. Reefer Madness is a parody of a 1936 PSA film (I guess PSAs were longer back then, since it clocked in at 60 minutes); the PSA was funded by a church group and was filled with bit actors, thus creating some pretty low production values. The story was told by a stern lecturer addressing a group of parents about the dangers of marijuana, the "demon weed". The lecturer warned that people under the influence immediately become giggly, and eventually, manically violent. To prove his story, he shows a movie about a "real" case involving three unsuspecting teenagers.

Bill Harper, his girlfriend Mary Lane, and Mary's sister Jimmy are high school students who are tricked into smoking pot by a smarmy dealer who preys on young children, despite the protests from his "girlfriend", who doesn't want to corrupt the youth. Jimmy becomes so stoned that he runs over a man with a car, while Bill hallucinates seeing Mary making out with another stoner (in reality she is resisting his advances), and begins fighting the other guy. When Jack, the dealer, tries to intervene, his gun accidentally goes off, killing Mary.

The musical follows the same basic plot, though Bill and Jimmy are combined to create Jimmy Harper, Mary's boyfriend. In this version, the lecturer (played menacingly by Alan Cumming in the Showtime version) will do anything to get his point across, even if it means discrediting his questioning audience. When one man questions the dubious facts of the case, the lecturer accuses the man of being a communist. Throughout the story, the lecturer shows up as characters of authority within the story, including a cop, a preacher, and even President Franklin Roosevelt.

The story of Jimmy and Mary (who is played by Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars, and is a surprisingly good singer) is played with a dark wit; Mary and Jimmy are delightfully innocent, since the 30s were characterized by reactionary policies meant to suppress any ideas seen as "anti-American". The two teens are so naive that they cannot imagine that any story could have an unhappy ending, even Romeo and Juliet, and when they are offered marijuana, neither one could ever imagine that someone would be dishonest with them or not have their best interests at heart.

The effects of the drug are also exaggerated; in addition to the claims made in the original PSA, such as being more addictive and dangerous than heroin, the film shows one person becoming a cannibal when the munchies become overpowering, while Mary changes from a sweet and naive girl into an S&M queen who attempts to rape the man who gave her the reefer.

The best part of the show is the ending; I will try not to give too much away, but I cannot hit the themes I want without mentioning details, so if you haven't seen it yet, you may want to skip ahead (then again, the details of the ending are much less important than the message). The ending is, of course, "happy", since there could be no other kind of ending in the 30s. The twist is that the happy ending is about how the characters resolve to brainwash people into believing what they feel to be "the truth". In fact, one of the final scenes is a book-burning, wherein the lecturer claims that, when there is trouble, exploit the fear, since the end will justify the means.

The show is extremely funny and over the top, but it is also a scary reflection of the way things seem to be going today. In the 30s, there was a mild recession occurring (heh) and a terrible war brewing across the ocean, and yet, to some, the more important issues involved threats to "American values". Since this isn't a political blog, I won't harp on this too much, but let's just say that, despite the current war, climate change, and declining infrastructure, the big issue in the last election had to do with gay marriage. What?

Up next: Mix-ups, mayhem, and a gay wedding (not that kind of gay)...