04/26/2002 Entry:
"Jesus' Son - Alison McClean (1999)"

I have a problem with junkie movies, largely because I have a problem with junkies. I find little interesting in their escapades. One reason junkie movies bother me is that I feel they largely glamorize the junkie lifestyle even when disaster occurs. There are always going to be fucked up impressionable people hellbent on self-destruction who will find much to like in a portrayal of the junkie lifestyle. Think I'm wrong? Look at the kind of hero-worship people like Jim Morrison and Sid Vicious get from their followers. The message is junkie + genius = art. It bothers me. I've seen too many talented and lovely people who I knew or admired ruined by it. Maybe its a personal problem, I don't know. Even a film like Requiem For A Dream I only like because it is a stunning piece of filmmaking. The way it gets a hold on you is quite amazing. Traffic at least had two other stories two keep you going, and that film truly had a message behind it.

Anyways, on to Jesus' Son. This movie annoyed me for the vast majority of it. It is actually quite well made, and I'm not one to complain about a Wilco-heavy soundtrack. But the main character (aptly named Fuckhead) never generated one iota of sympathy from me. Stumbling lamely through his life, getting by through sheer luck, I kept wanting to smack him. There was one kind of surreal scene involving a knife that I enjoyed for the sheer strangeness of it (plus a nice Jack Black bit.) Still, I feel a film like this emphasizes the message that you can fuck around with heroin for a while, get straight, and still come out of it basically intact. This, to me, is not something I really get a charge out of. Its hard for me to understand how people feel any sympathy for this character too. Yes, he kind of half-assedly gets his redemption in the end, but christ at what cost?