Say it with me kids, T-O-X-I-C! Today’s blog post is brought to you by the word, toxic. That is the best word I have to describe this week’s film, Alex Cox’s 1986 film Sid and Nancy. The film follows historical figures Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen on their co-dependent downward spiral fueled by heroine addiction, physical abuse and love(?)

I can safely say I don’t know if I will ever watch it again after this week, it wasn’t the kind of movie you would put on to wind down after a long day. Thats not to say it wasn’t a good film though. It was really quite beautiful actually but almost in the same way that a car accident is beautiful, you can’t help but look and regret it as soon you do. Alex Cox almost acts as the other driver on the highway. He locks us in the backseat of his car when he teases us with the tragic ending. Then he drives really slowly past the destructive drug fugued state that is the next two hours of Sid and Nancy. Our face is pressed up against the window glass watching Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb destroy each other in a tornado of self obsessed destruction. It isn’t until the “accident” has long past faded from the review that our guilt and numbness goes away and we can truly process what we just witnessed. I couldn’t help but wonder if we are truly suppose to find enjoyment in someone else’s demise? if we did enjoy it should we feel guilty?

I feel like the car crash metaphor fits a lot of heroine based movies. You wouldn’t say its a drug that lends itself well to a comedic perspective. LSD and marijuana on the other hand are a great way to start a comedic misadventure. The two types of movies are complete opposites of one another.

A heroine addicts descent is seen as dark and dingy with the world literally raining down trash in some cases. Movies like Sid and Nancy use dark colors and shadowy vignettes to hide in. Characters don’t laugh anymore, let alone have sex and spend most of the movie either unconscious, semiconscious, or withdrawing. On the other hand LSD trips in, like the one I have included from the movie Across the Universe are saturated in color, deep purples, greens and yellows. Colors morph and become inverted easing us in to the trippiness of the drug. Even high though everyone is still smiling, laughing letting their hands go where they want, depicting the drug as a much happier drug than heroine.

Never mind weed heavy films that are filled with non stop laughs, clouds of smoke and frequent snacks. They are usually buddy films about two screw ups who aren’t taken seriously and its just them navigating some sort of screwed ball scheme or situation.

Even if not everyone is smoking in the film the stoner is usually the comedic relief in most classic high-school based films. Either the comic relief or the all knowing/really deep one that offers the other characters the kind of wisdom only a truly stoned person can offer. You don’t typically see the heroin addict being the comedic relief of a film.