Sure I was laughing! I laughed about the bad, baaaad acting; the absurd premise and the horrible directing, convincing me that the crew must have been stoned. I laughed at the piano being played too fast, the maniacally laughing and the accidental shooting. I cracked up at lines like "one puff and you're hooked", the ludicrous supposition that Marihuana (apparently pronounced "Maahr-Wanna" in those parts of the world) is a narcotic and the assumption that THC, similar to thinking-too-hard-and-too-much, will drive you psychotic.
And sure, I had just smoked a huge joint, having watched this during a holiday in Amsterdam and was high like a kite (though I have to admit: I didn't feel like playing the piano too fast, nor did it inspire me to gun anybody down).
But then I began to reflect: this movie is almost 80-years old and there were still people who believed the hackneyed nonsense it propagated. I thought about all the ruined lives of those who had been caught with a few joints. I thought about Aids, cancer and multiple scleroses patients who are denied alternative medication and about all the lives that have been lost in the so-called "war on drugs" that keeps the mafia and drug-cartels alive and prosperous.
That's when I stopped laughing.
And sure, I had just smoked a huge joint, having watched this during a holiday in Amsterdam and was high like a kite (though I have to admit: I didn't feel like playing the piano too fast, nor did it inspire me to gun anybody down).
But then I began to reflect: this movie is almost 80-years old and there were still people who believed the hackneyed nonsense it propagated. I thought about all the ruined lives of those who had been caught with a few joints. I thought about Aids, cancer and multiple scleroses patients who are denied alternative medication and about all the lives that have been lost in the so-called "war on drugs" that keeps the mafia and drug-cartels alive and prosperous.
That's when I stopped laughing.