Did anyone else feel this film does a much better job in portraying drug withdrawal than drug addiction? Barbara was a functioning narcissist when she was on pills, but she was an uncontrollable rage-aholic when she quit them.
I'm not suggesting that her life would have been better had she remained on tranquilizers (though I think everyone else's would have), but I don't think this film established her problem very well.
Agreed. I find that the best remedy for my alcoholism and stimulant dependence is the following: 3 parts Johnny Walker Black Label + 2 parts Bolivian 80%
shareVery well put, and on the occasion of Jill Clayburgh's passing, I say smoke 'em, pop 'em, drink 'em and snort 'em if you got 'em. Life is short, and I'm typing as fast as I can.
Here's to you, Jill, and thanks for giving us many better roles than this one.
Sorry, but I'd call that denial. I think the addiction was appropriately shown, in that Valium is a class of drug where protracted use in most cases increases the severity of the original problems for which it was prescribed.
Also, her functional addiction was at a point where is was no longer functional, for her creative vision had blurred which was evident in her work on the documentary.
The only reason she was a "rage-aholic" is because she had suppressed herself and her views for so long that it just exploded when she didn't have something to numb her real feelings. I felt that they presented enough reasoning to explain how her addiction came to be. It was also very common in those days for someone like her to be seeing a doctor who isn't really helping her in the way she needed with regards her anxiety issues and just kept giving her more and more valium. I felt that was the major reason for her addiction. It doesn't have to be caused by some major event in her childhood or whatever.
"We're "us". You're "them". We don't help "thems". Sorry! --Paige
You should read the original memoir this was based on. Read between the lines, and the real Barbara Gordon was an incredible me-me-me narcissist inclined to blame every problem in her life on other people who allegedly victimized her. The movie pretty well softens that self-portrait, among many other aspects it freely alters/fictionalizes.
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