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The Art of Reality: Psychedelic Experience in Cinema and Television
By Evan Martin
Psychedelics temporarily inhibit the mind’s apparent reality of on-screen illusions. The filtering mechanisms, allowing the senses access earliest visionary sequences were mostly found in to increased amounts of information. Since animated shorts and features such as Mickey’s prehistory, shamans, artists, and storytellers have Garden (1935), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), used these hyper-receptive states to transmit Alice in Wonderland (1951), and the Salvador meaning and insight by implementing attention Dali/Walt Disney collaboration Destiny (1945). evoking mechanisms such as rhythm, dance, Another Dali collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock poetry, narrative, vocal cadence, facial expres- in 1945 for the dream sequences in Spellbound sion, body language, symbolic and patterned introduced more sophisticated, non-animated film costume, and scenic sensorial effects such as fire, effects to portray the surreality of altered states. decorations, and acoustics. So emerged what we Evan Martin now call theater: a blending of art forms (visual, [email protected] In 1959, LSD made its first appearance onscreen musical, dance, fashion, linguistic, etc.) onto an in The Tingler, starring Vincent Price. Film animated canvas of human action, painted with presentations of The Tingler took viewer immer- the endless palette of human emotion. sion to the next level. Multicolor oil lighting effects were projected over the black and white The technological unfurling of the past century film during the LSD scene; a real skeleton popped has awarded us increased capacities, both This is an abridged out of a trap door next to the screen and zip-lined generative and destructive, from acid to the atom out towards the audience; actors paid to be bomb. While psychedelic aesthetics are intimate- version of moviegoers screamed and fainted in their seats; ly joined to the natural world (as exemplified by and electric vibrating buzzers under the seats such hippie-driven movements as environmental- The Art of Reality: startled the audience when the movie’s namesake ism, natural foods and clothing, natural medicine, creature, which feeds on fear, supposedly natural homes, nudism, and the romanticization A Review of escaped into the theater. of indigenous cultures) there has also been a direct historical correlation between psychedelics the Reunification Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, as the and the cutting edge of technological innovation. influence of LSD and other psychedelics on This can be easily illustrated by the most recog- of Shamanic popular culture grew, so too did the number of nizable symbols of psychedelic culture: electric films inspired by, depicting, and even celebrating guitars, electronic music, computer graphics, psychedelic experiences–certainly more than are computational or fractal geometry, and the open, Traveling and Cinematic within the scope of this review. A few notable collaborative ethical codes brought forth by mentions include The Trip (1967) written by Jack networked information technologies that spread Sojourns. Nicholson, Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969), like mycelia from the silicon spores of Bay Area Fritz The Cat (1972), the animated and profound- counterculture philosophy. For the full ly psychedelic Fantastic Planet (1973), and Hair (1978), based on the 1967 off-Broadway These two seemingly diametric attachments, to unabridged review, musical. nature and technology, are in fact aspects of psychedelics’ more general tendency to enhance visit During the anti-drug hysteria of the 1980s and awareness of networks and systems, such as early 1990s, most films and television shows those that comprise biologies, ecologies, and cos- www.teleomorph.com. either contained ominous warnings and goofy mologies (an aspect aptly captured by Richard misrepresentations about psychedelics, or directly Doyle’s notable neologism: ecodelic). When exaggerated their negative consequences. One technological methods are aligned with those of such example is the classic, psychedelic camp nature–such as beauty, harmony, and synergy– thriller, Altered States (1980), based on the technology itself becomes indistinguishable from hallucinogenic and sensory deprivation experi- nature: an emergent property rather than ments of Dr. John Lilly. antipode. Other films from this period that added a baleful Special effects have always been part and air to drug experimentation were Midnight parcel of cinema’s evolution. As photographic Express (1978), Liquid Sky (1982), Jacob’s and editing technology improved, so did the Ladder (1990) and Lawnmower Man (1991). 10 w x{ © { x{ G
Lawnmower Man is a perfect example of and a whole galaxy of uppers, downers, Some of the most accurate and intricate how technology-driven special effects laughers, screamers.” depictions of the psychedelic mystical evolved hand-in-hand with the portrayal of experience in cinematic form occurred in altered states, as it was the first film to utilize With the turn of the millennium came yet Renegade (2004). Directed by Jan Kounen, the revolutionary new 3D capabilities of another influx of psychedelics in major films, who was deeply inspired by his ayahuasca computer-generated imagery (CGI). starting with The Matrix (1999). The entire journeys, this shamanic Western was film (and its sequels) candidly draws from based on a comic book series by visionary Some films from that repressed period, such the standard themes of psychedelic illustrator Jean “Moebius” Giraud, who as Naked Lunch (1991) and The Doors philosophy, such as a red pill that forces passed away in March 2012. In addition (1991), portrayed the consequences of Neo through a birth-like process into the to helping formulate the stunning visuals in combining psychedelics and more harmful “real world” of mind over matter, time Renegade, Moebius also helped create the intoxicants such as alcohol and heroin. dilation and cave raves where there are no luminous aquatic aliens in James Cameron’s Others, such as Natural Born Killers (1994) spoons and “anything is possible.” The The Abyss (1989) and contributed design and Beavis & Butthead Do America (1996), exploding electronic dance music scene concepts to such fantastical films as Alien while clearly psychedelically informed, became the backdrop for altered states in a (1979), Tron (1982), Willow (1988), and additionally demonstrate that visionary number of popular films, including Human The Fifth Element (1997). states were most frequently portrayed to the Traffic (1999), Groove (2000), Sorted general public in menacing contexts. (2000), 24 Hour Party People (2002), A Psychedelic aesthetics without direct drug Midsummer Night’s Rave (2002), Party references are also making a splash in David Lynch’s Dune (1984), based on Frank Monster (2003), and It’s All Gone Pete popular cinema as can be seen in the epic Herbert’s 1965 novel, while having a Tong (2005). visual creativity of such films as Terry Gil- generally positive take on mind-expanding liam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus drugs, focused less on the drug itself than As the use of MDMA spread beyond the (2009), the increasingly popular works of on the raging violence over its control. In rave scene, its portrayal in cinema moved Hayao Miyazaki, and The Secret of Kells other films, even when references to drugs beyond the lights and sounds of electronic (2009), an enchantingly trippy film about il- were not explicit, psychedelics nevertheless music parties and into the bars and luminated manuscripts and Celtic faerie lore directly informed themes and aesthetics. For bedrooms. The “love drug” had favorable which won the Academy Award for Best instance, the producers of Brainstorm (or at least neutral) cameos in such popular Animated Feature. (1983) consulted Stanislav Grof for the films as When Do We Eat (2006), a CGI-driven post-death transpersonal comedy about a Jewish family that comes In the past decade, we have seen many journey of Christopher Walken’s character. together over a Passover dinner and a hallucinogenic insights and adventures in tablet of MDMA, as well as 25th Hour hilarious stoner films such as Knocked Up With the resurgence of psychedelic use that (2002), Bad Boys II (2003), Garden State (2007), The Pick of Destiny (2006), Walk occurred in the early 1990’s along with the (2004), Holy Rollers (2010) and Black Hard (2008), Men Who Stare at Goats rise of rave and cyberculture, it became Swan (2010). (2009), Get Him to the Greek (2010) and harder to thwart the oncoming flood of 21 Jump St (2012); whimsical and profound psychedelic aesthetics, reinforced as they The complex effects of fictional hallucino- psychedelic experiences in musical and were by emerging technologies. Strange genic flowers were central to the plots of light-hearted comedies like Across The Days (1995) portrayed a brain-computer Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation (2002), Universe (2007) and Taking Woodstock interface that offered radically novel Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005) (2009); and even some frightful trip scenari- subjective experiences and generated its and Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Philip os in thrillers like The Tripper (2007). own black market–a digital drug with the K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly (2006). A potential to “fry” a person’s senses into Scanner Darkly explored themes of One of the most sophisticated cinematic warped rainbow static. In 1996, the most addiction, drug politics and disapproving explorations to date of altered states, famous work of theatrical drama in history inter-dimensional beings, and was made in including those induced by LSD, DMT, and became a blockbuster film which had a similar animation style to Linklater’s near-death experiences, was in the maturely Romeo rolling on MDMA when he first laid Waking Life (2001), a profound and dramatic film Enter the Void (2009). Filmed eyes on his Juliet. Terry Gilliam’s now-classic visually stunning film about lucid dreaming in Tokyo and shot entirely in first-person per- rendition of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and and other transpersonal states. spective–blinks, memories, and all–Enter the Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) famously Void begins with the central character smok- portrayed the results of “seventy-five pellets ing DMT while coming down off LSD before of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered being launched into a voyage through the blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, Tibetan bardos. w x{ © { x{ G w x{ © { x{ G 11
Avatar (2009) was also particularly strik- One of the boldest and most ostentatious Despite mass media’s flagrant exploitation ing in its psychedelic saturation. Even a treatments of psychedelic drugs on TV is in for misguided ends, an inter-subjective and symbolic portrayal of the ayahuasca ritual the successful science fiction serial, Fringe– egalitarian ethos is emerging upon the ris- was almost included but the scene ended the very first episode of which involves ing tide of network and communication tech- up being cut from the script. That such a the main protagonist being administered nologies, wherein the doctrine of centrality representation of the way human beings a cocktail of LSD and ketamine while will once again be denigrated to quaint actually are capable of reconnecting with floating in a sensory deprivation tank and obsolescence, as the telescope did for the the ecosystemic sentience of Earth was so neuro-computationally interfaced with a geocentric model, or Gutenberg’s press for nearly included in the highest grossing, recently deceased person in order to ex- centralized religious authority. Coinciding most popular film in history, says something tract subjective memories from the still warm with the rise of networked society is a redis- about the rate at which the mycelial threads corpse. Throughout the show, another lead covery of ecological reverence which calls of psychedelic cultures are reaching out and character–the lovable mad scientist–repeat- for sustainable relationships with nature, linking up with the very roots of popular cul- edly admits to using psychedelics during plant knowledge, and biomimetic tech- ture. [Editor’s Note: See Erik Davis’ article his normal routines. The screenwriters even nologies. Amidst the cultural, technological on ayahuasca and Avatar in this issue.] grant psychedelics the fundamental role of and biological diversity to which all these inspiring the invention of the transdimen- trends introduce us, shamanic principles will While big-budget feature films have the sional portal that is the basis of the show’s rapidly become increasingly appropriate. benefit of ever-advancing special effects to entire story arc. With psychonautic navigation at the helm of communicate psychedelic themes to popu- creative design and media communications, lar culture, psychedelics are also making Psychedelics have repeatedly been topics we will beautify the earth, and reclaim art more appearances on television. The main in the longest-running sitcom in American as a core aspect of our conscious, cosmic character in House is a gifted yet troubled history: The Simpsons. In one episode, { D© M.D. who echoes the image of shaman in Homer undergoes an intense and extended his uncanny ability to diagnose mysterious vision quest after consuming the merciless ailments and his radically unorthodox meth- “Insanity Peppers of Quetzalacatenango.” ods of healing. This petulant medicine man South Park also routinely pokes fun at the has taken LSD at work to relieve a migraine, criminalization of psychoactive drugs, given psilocybin to a surly young patient from psychedelics to medical marijuana suffering from cluster headaches, and dispensaries. Family Guy also recently paid helped manage a fellow doctor’s difficult homage to psychedelic experiences with an psychedelic experience. In the supernatural episode in their tenth season in which Brian thriller True Blood, the fictional drug works consumes magic mushrooms on a rainy as an addictive stimulant in small doses–en- day and returns from his vividly harrowing hancing cognition, sensation and physical experience with a newfound sense of calm strength–while at higher doses it affords and compassionate wisdom. visionary states casting rippling rainbows of euphoria and insight over the bleakness of Phenomenal strides are being taken in the a tribulating world. The hit comedy Weeds inoculation of pop culture with psychedelic presented its main character imbibing aya- revelations, yet we are still but on the brink huasca, albeit not in the most meaningful of fully realizing the potentials for big- manner, still further exposing the concept of budget applications of rapidly advancing entheogenic ritual to the masses. media technologies to the momentous, shamanic emotion of the imminent entheo- genic reformation. Amidst the commencing unfurlment of technological extensions into interactive, immersive media, mutable matter, neurotechnology and the awaken- ing ethics of interconnectedness, openness and abundance, the exteriorization of the psychedelic vision from the mind’s eye to the world of matter and media will become ever more manifest and resplendent.