Portrayal of drug usage in film has always been a bit of a touchy subject, even today, and a fine line needs to be walked. The 1955 Frank Sinatra-starring vehicle, The Man with the Golden Arm, walked on this line unflinchingly at the tail-end of the classical era of Hollywood and generated much discussion. The film tells the story of a heroin addict, played by Sinatra, who gets clean whilst in prison but struggles to stay clean upon his release. What set this film apart was that it was the first film to portray illicit drug use as a serious literary topic and the first film to tackle the marginalized issue of heroin use that didn't involve the standard 'dope fiend' trope of the day. This unflinching portrayal of heroin use basically made The Man with the Golden Arm the Requiem for a Dream for the 1950's.The MPAA weren't particularly happy at the film's realistic take on narcotics and drug addiction and it refused to grant a seal of approval to the film. Despite the controversy, the studios shrugged and released the film anyway, without the MPAA's seal of approval, and it became a critical and box-office hit on its own merits.
My life story is nothing special. I haven't cured ebola, I'm nowhere near stopping terrorism, and I'm still working on that climate change problem.
Instead, all I've done so far is put a few hundred words together in an attempt to make people laugh.
You can follow me at @Fry_ying_pan but don't be offended if I don't tweet back. It's usually because I've spent too long trying to think up a witty response that the reply window has closed.
