Link to Christian Campbell's cock
There's a strong gay subtext: drug dealer Ralph (Dave O'Brien) sees high schooler Jimmy (Warren McCollum), murmurs "Nice!", and practically licks his lips in anticipation. Wrangling an introduction, he says "Nice to meet youuuuuu!" with a lascivious leer, then invites Jimmy to the soda shop, where he will try to get him hooked on the psychosis-inducing weed in a parallel to how gay men were accused of recruiting boys.
The movie was placed on the exploitation circuit, officially meant to educate viewers about the "dangers" of the practice, but drawing crowds interested in gawking at the degradation. In the 1970s it was discovered by the hippie art-house crowd, who would watch while high for an ironic twist.
In 1998, Reefer Madness: The Musical appeared off-Broadway, eliminating the redundant characters and upping the camp. Christian Campbell (left) played Jimmy, lured from his "wholesome" heterosexual chastity by drug dealer Jack (Robert Torti, top photo) and cohort Ralph (John Kassir).
The film version, Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005), stars Christian Campbell as Jimmy, Steven Weber as Jack, and Robert Torti as Jesus. It adds some characters, such as John Mann as Satan, ups the gay subtext by removing all pronouns from the seduction scenes, and adds a lot of beefcake. Check out Jimmy's bulge as a group of male demons swings him in the air.
He has a three-way "dance" with the God Pan and a lady, and a dinner date with Satan. Plus there's an explicit connection between the anti-marijuana crusade of the 1930s with bigoted attacks on gays and lesbians:
And once the reefer has been destroyed
We'll start on Darwin and Sigmund Freud
And sex depicted on celluloid
And communists and queens!
When danger's near, exploit their fear
The end will justify the means!
There's a strong gay subtext: drug dealer Ralph (Dave O'Brien) sees high schooler Jimmy (Warren McCollum), murmurs "Nice!", and practically licks his lips in anticipation. Wrangling an introduction, he says "Nice to meet youuuuuu!" with a lascivious leer, then invites Jimmy to the soda shop, where he will try to get him hooked on the psychosis-inducing weed in a parallel to how gay men were accused of recruiting boys.
After Jimmy is tricked into taking a puff of the "evil weed," he is plagued by instant addiction, psychotic rambling, uncontrollable sexual desire (the most horrifying to audiences of the day ), drunk driving, and finally murder. It seems laughably sensationalistic today, but in fact Harry J. Anslinger, the commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1963, devoted his entire career to feeding the flames of the panic. As late as the 1950s, marijuana was considered more dangerous than heroin.
The movie was placed on the exploitation circuit, officially meant to educate viewers about the "dangers" of the practice, but drawing crowds interested in gawking at the degradation. In the 1970s it was discovered by the hippie art-house crowd, who would watch while high for an ironic twist.
In addition to the gay subtext, there was a lot of beefcake, with the super-muscular Jimmy stripped down to his underwear and a chorus of semi-nude male and female devils.
More music and bulges after the break
The film version, Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005), stars Christian Campbell as Jimmy, Steven Weber as Jack, and Robert Torti as Jesus. It adds some characters, such as John Mann as Satan, ups the gay subtext by removing all pronouns from the seduction scenes, and adds a lot of beefcake. Check out Jimmy's bulge as a group of male demons swings him in the air.
He has a three-way "dance" with the God Pan and a lady, and a dinner date with Satan. Plus there's an explicit connection between the anti-marijuana crusade of the 1930s with bigoted attacks on gays and lesbians:
We'll start on Darwin and Sigmund Freud
And sex depicted on celluloid
And communists and queens!
When danger's near, exploit their fear
The end will justify the means!
My Grade: B+.
Don't forget the pseudo-Spanish name marijuana. Xenophobia? You betcha!
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