share with you a precious jewel that my beloved shared with me just last week: Vanishing Point.The premise behind the movie is simple: the main character, Kowalski, must get from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours in order to deliver a supercharged 1970 Dodge Challenger. The Challenger and Kowalski are picture to the right. Also pictured is the chump in the red convertible that tried to race Kowalski, the chump wound up in a river. IMDB.com only rates this movie 7.2 out of 10 stars, which is total bullshit so I'll have to assume that their star-meter is on the fritz because it deserves at least an extra star or two. The movie is described as a cult classic, but I strongly disagree. I'd describe it by dropping the "cult" and just calling it "classic."
Vanishing Point is a classic movie because it tackles the tough issues. It's not just a 98 minute car chase across state lines
quasi-narrated by an awesome blind DJ talking to Kowalski over the airwaves, it's a social issues movie dealing with subjects that are just as pertinent today as they were in 1971. This movie crosses the generational gap to appeal to audiences from all decades. Kowalski takes time out of his high speed car chase to help out a couple that had a "Just Married" sign on the back of their car. Of course, I can't think of anywhere they would have been able to get married back in 1971, but maybe it was just a commitment ceremony. Either way, it was cute. Until the two gentleman started acting the fool and pulled out a gun to try and rob Kowalski. The point is that he gave them a chance before kicking them out, maybe America should give gay marriage a chance too.Yesterday, I talked about a global weed market and this movie deals with the issue of drugs, too: it says they are good, real good. Kowalski needed some speed to go with his speed, so to speak. All throughout the movie, the main character is popping amphetamines so that he'll be able to make the delivery of the car on time. He even makes friends with a biker purely because the biker has the pills Kowalski's been looking for. That, and an attractive girlfriend that likes to ride her motorcycle naked. Like I've been saying, this movie is awesome.
I was recently reading about a new kind of speed pill, Modafinil, that's endorsed by the FDA. This comes as no surprise because the US Military has been handing out speed in the form of "go pills" (Dexedrine) to its soldiers for years as a way to keep them awake and alert during long missions. This new speed pill, Modafinil, is supposed to give you all the benefits of regular amphetamines, but with none of the drawbacks. That means someone on these pills can stay awake for up to 48 hours with no side effects save for making the pill-popper more alert. The coolest thing about these new pills is that they stimulate the body's hormones in such a way as to make it unnecessary to "catch up" on any of that missed sleep.
This "catch up" period could better be described as a crash, and Modafinil doesn't have one. This is what makes it the "drug of choice" for professors that want to read more books and nerds that want to play more video games. I imagine if Kowalski could have gotten his hands on these little wonders, things might have gone differently. Still, the possibility of a pill that lets you stay up for two days with no side effects (while keeping you extra alert) sounds amazing. Actually, it sounds like steroids for midterms and World of Warcraft characters. So the next time you take a test and you think it's too difficult, maybe it is. Ask your professor if he/she was doping before they made that exam. Then show them a picture of what their brain looks like on drugs. On the other hand, if you're having trouble slaying some WoW bad guy and you suspect he's been doping, let it slide. Remember, these people have pills that keep them awake for 48 hours. That's a lot of time to plot their revenge on you via digital terrorism. Too bad it was only soft-core.
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