The Pop Culture of Cannabis in the Film Industry

The pop culture of cannabis in the film industry can be traced back to the early 20th century. In film, cannabis is generally portrayed as a social menace. Films of the early twentieth century reflect the attitudes and ideas of that time, and often function as time capsules of how society viewed the plant. 

Despite its controversial past, marijuana has made its way back into mainstream cinema, courtesy of a number of award-winning films. Before legalization in most states, films featuring marijuana portrayed it in a negative light. Even today, most Americans have a positive opinion of the drug. Even award-winning documentaries have addressed the issue. And these films aren’t the only ones to portray cannabis. Cannabis in the film industry has helped make it a legitimate topic for debate.

If you’ve been curious about the pop culture of cannabis in the film industry, you’re not alone. Films based on the drug have long portrayed it as a social blight. Consider early twentieth century films that portrayed cannabis as a criminal or dangerous substance. They were time capsules reflecting the attitudes and ideas of their time. Today, however, the portrayal of marijuana in movies has changed with society and laws.

Hollywood 

The early days of Hollywood were filled with marijuana and weed jokes. However, by the 1930s, prohibition was in full swing and marijuana became an illegal drug. Consequently, movies featuring marijuana tended to portray the substance as a criminal activity. Today, marijuana is still an occasional part of Hollywood and many celebrities are supporting the homegrowing of beginner cannabis seeds, but a lot of early movies have marijuana references. In fact, weed was once a legal drug for medicinal use, but by then it had been demonized in the popular culture.

Reefer Madness

The 1936 movie Reefer Madness made headlines because it was so eerily accurate to the drug panic that gripped America a few years later. Just a year later, the federal government introduced the first marijuana tax and cracked down on pot users. This movie capitalized on the hysteria surrounding marijuana and used it to its own advantage. The essence of exploitation is the sale of forbidden subjects. The film made fun of marijuana and sold seven deadly sins as well as a dozen minor ones. Its depiction of cannabis and other drugs was both in bad taste and unrepresentative of the thriving marijuana industry.

Fritz the Cat

One of the earliest comics about the drug was “Fritz the Bugs Out,” a strip about a homeless college kid and his encounter with a hippie girl. The comic was written by Charles Crumb in 1952 and published in Zap Comix #5 in 1970, adapted by R. Crumb. Crumb moved to the San Francisco counterculture after watching the comic and continued to create and publish underground comics until 1968.

The Big Lebowski

By the 1990s, however, the cannabis-themed films had evolved, and stoner characters had become part of mainstream culture. A large segment of the film-going public loves the Coen brothers’ 1998 comedy The Big Lebowski. Though not an outright drug film, it features Jeff Bridges as the title character, Jeff “The Dude,” who is a regular marijuana user. While the film is not a commentary on cannabis use, the absurd plot lines and skewed depictions of drug use may be problematic for some viewers.

Side Notes

The history of marijuana and the film industry is long and intertwined. From the time it was first used as a recreational drug to the racial disparities that plague the legal weed industry, marijuana has shaped pop culture. It’s a ubiquitous punch line in pop culture, the basis of an expanding medicinal and recreational industry, and the cause of more than half of all drug arrests in the U.S., a staggering percentage of which are against African-Americans.

Films and television shows often reflect the era they portray. Cannabis has evolved from being a villain in Hollywood’s past to a celebrated cultural icon in the last half century. From the early 1900s, when it was legal, many people used it as a medicine to treat various ailments. By the 1930s, however, prohibition had taken hold and marijuana was viewed as a dangerous drug. In the 1940s, cannabis use was deemed criminal and marijuana users were often portrayed as evil and delinquent.