Fair warning to those who haven't seen the movie. This review has spoilers!
Addict and Straight Shooter
As usual, I sat in a shed smoking a ridiculous amount of marijuana; drunk and in a constant stream of thought as I listened to the Rolling Stones, “Gimmie Shelter”. This just happened to be a song played on the preview of “Flight”, which brought back fond memories of seeing the film on Netflix for the first time. It was one of the best movies I had ever seen, but up untill now, it never occurred to me why that was so.
It was obvious the movie was about confronting a drug addiction, but what I love most about the film was how it took that theme a step further. They created a scenario, where the character confronted his drug addiction regardless of the crash, forcing us to think about our views on drugs and our own personal use.
DrugFree.org, claims that over 23 million in America are addicted to drugs but obviously that number can only come from records in some database, which means that the numbers can only account for those who have been caught and/or treating their addictions. What about the ones who never got caught? What about the ones who are addicted to something other than drugs? 23 million addicted? That’s far too low.
Everywhere I go, I see addicts in some shape or form. I’m an addict. I smoke weed everyday and at least three to four times a week I drink. It’s not that much and it’s not meth, but its mind altering. And everyone I know? They’re almost all like me and they all have legitimate lives-Operations Manager, Engineer, Rocket Scientist, etc. People run the World on drugs, but we don’t see it that way because we have it, “under control”.
We create these narratives to justify our use so that suddenly, the problem isn’t there anymore. It’s as if there’s some arbitrary rule that says that if it hasn’t ruined your life, then you’re not an addict. And so a dichotomy forms between the addicts and everyone else, when there was never really any clear line to begin with. If anything, there’s a stratum of addicts in varying degrees. But, we don’t see it that way because we’re in denial.
And that’s what’s amazing about the movie, “Flight”. It showed us that even though the plane crash wasn’t Denzel’s fault, he still had to confront his true nature; something completely separate from the plane crash altogether; his addiction.
That’s why there were mixed responses about his fate. Some people thought he was guilty. Others thought he should get off because technically, it was the co-pilots fault and if anything, Denzel saved most of them by performing an almost impossible move. He was a great pilot but he was also an addict and high that day as he was every day. So, he never fully fit the mold of an addict or a straight shooter. He was a little bit of both and that’s how many of us are even though we choose not to see it.
In the end, he confessed to being intoxicated while flying that plane. He served his time, not because he was responsible for that crash but because he was responsible for being high while performing a dangerous job. He finally stood back from that bullshit we tell ourselves and confronted his true self; an addict and a straight shooter.
Addict and Straight Shooter
As usual, I sat in a shed smoking a ridiculous amount of marijuana; drunk and in a constant stream of thought as I listened to the Rolling Stones, “Gimmie Shelter”. This just happened to be a song played on the preview of “Flight”, which brought back fond memories of seeing the film on Netflix for the first time. It was one of the best movies I had ever seen, but up untill now, it never occurred to me why that was so.
It was obvious the movie was about confronting a drug addiction, but what I love most about the film was how it took that theme a step further. They created a scenario, where the character confronted his drug addiction regardless of the crash, forcing us to think about our views on drugs and our own personal use.
DrugFree.org, claims that over 23 million in America are addicted to drugs but obviously that number can only come from records in some database, which means that the numbers can only account for those who have been caught and/or treating their addictions. What about the ones who never got caught? What about the ones who are addicted to something other than drugs? 23 million addicted? That’s far too low.
Everywhere I go, I see addicts in some shape or form. I’m an addict. I smoke weed everyday and at least three to four times a week I drink. It’s not that much and it’s not meth, but its mind altering. And everyone I know? They’re almost all like me and they all have legitimate lives-Operations Manager, Engineer, Rocket Scientist, etc. People run the World on drugs, but we don’t see it that way because we have it, “under control”.
We create these narratives to justify our use so that suddenly, the problem isn’t there anymore. It’s as if there’s some arbitrary rule that says that if it hasn’t ruined your life, then you’re not an addict. And so a dichotomy forms between the addicts and everyone else, when there was never really any clear line to begin with. If anything, there’s a stratum of addicts in varying degrees. But, we don’t see it that way because we’re in denial.
And that’s what’s amazing about the movie, “Flight”. It showed us that even though the plane crash wasn’t Denzel’s fault, he still had to confront his true nature; something completely separate from the plane crash altogether; his addiction.
That’s why there were mixed responses about his fate. Some people thought he was guilty. Others thought he should get off because technically, it was the co-pilots fault and if anything, Denzel saved most of them by performing an almost impossible move. He was a great pilot but he was also an addict and high that day as he was every day. So, he never fully fit the mold of an addict or a straight shooter. He was a little bit of both and that’s how many of us are even though we choose not to see it.
In the end, he confessed to being intoxicated while flying that plane. He served his time, not because he was responsible for that crash but because he was responsible for being high while performing a dangerous job. He finally stood back from that bullshit we tell ourselves and confronted his true self; an addict and a straight shooter.
