“Weeds” and Marijuana Chic – By Brent Bozell III
Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 2:03 pm | By: Radical Russ
Townhall.com::”Weeds” and Marijuana Chic::By Brent Bozell III
There surely are multiple reasons to explain the increasing use of this drug. But one reason for the trend is surely its glamorization by Hollywood, which thinks marijuana is a fun-and-games subject.“Access Hollywood” has breathlessly promoted a new movie called “The Wackness,” set in 1994 New York. A young man sells marijuana out of an Italian-ice cart. He starts seeing a therapist, asking him for guidance on dating a young woman. He pays for the therapy sessions with pot.
If the plot seems tiresome, it’s the casting that’s truly saddening. The young pot dealer is played by Josh Peck, who just months ago was delighting hundreds of thousands of small children as a rubber-faced jokester on Nickelodeon’s teen comedy “Drake and Josh.” One of his regular pothead customers is played by Mary-Kate Olsen, half of the famous twins who played the baby sister on the family sitcom “Full House.”
Child stars too often go looking for a part to “stretch their range,” but that’s code for scraping off any odor of a goody-goody reputation. These actors are doing it by glorifying marijuana.
Drug-dealer chic really began with “Weeds,” the Showtime pay-cable series starring Mary-Louise Parker as widowed suburban mother/pot dealer Nancy Botwin. The fourth season recently premiered to the delight of TV critics, who love the show’s exposure of suburban hypocrisy. …
The show’s primary hypocrite is the boozy anti-drug crusader Celia Hodes, played by Elizabeth Perkins, who told TV Guide that her character “discovers drugs this year … and she’s like a kid in a candy shop.” Perkins is delighted by the bad behavior on the show. “There’s just something delicious about watching people misbehave without any sense of conscience.”
Perkins displayed more of her debased philosophy on CBS’s “The Early Show” on July 2 in a cozy showcase of CBS-Showtime corporate-cousin synergy. She described her moralizing character as fun to play because she’s “really screwed up and evil.” She’s an unstable hypocrite in a bad marriage who’s “going to take it out on whoever happens to be standing in her way.”
CBS anchor Julie Chen asked Perkins if she supports legalizing marijuana in real life. “Oh, yeah, absolutely.” she answered. “Alcohol is legal. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me why marijuana’s not.”
Teenagers will go see the movie with the Nickelodeon star selling pot, and teenagers are in the audience when Showtime is displaying its affection for “Weeds.” Hollywood is not merely mocking people who moralize against marijuana, they’re actively encouraging young people to explore the “edgy” life of illegal drugs they see on screen. But Hollywood will not be around for comfort or counseling when teenagers have to go to detox, or see psychologists for depression or other mental problems.
They ought to look in the mirror and wonder if they’re the self-righteous people who are really screwed up and pushing evil.
We return to Brent Bozell III’s moral crusade against the evils of Hollywood and its promotion of an exciting drug culture, right after these messages from the MIller Brewing Company, Anheuser-Busch, And Coors, sponsors of our most beloved family-friendly events like the Super Bowl (except when Janet’s boob escapes) and NASCAR, who remind you that the responsible drinking of alcohol is for adults only; age 21 and over is the law.
Do not be concerned that American teenagers will be encouraged by our exciting commercials filled with sexy young people dancing and playing only when alcohol is added to the party. Young people are only affected by movies and pay cable shows featuring marijuana use, not by the commercials that play every hour on free TV that glamorize alcohol use.
Topics: Hollywood, teenagers, teens, The Wackness, Weeds
