"Marijuana Kills"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7Zo5vLDC88
The featured clip is a classic scene from Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, when Harold and Kumar get high and decide they really, REALLY want White Castle. While watching TV, an "above the influence" type commercial titled "Marijuana Kills" airs; where a teenage boy gets baked with his buddy and shoots himself. The two fronts are polar opposite views of marijuana's effects. Harold and Kumar are laughing at the ad, because they are stoned and laid back and everything is hilarious, while the ad sets a serious. somber tone. Think about how this comedy movie gives the audience an automatic side to take; you are familiar with Harold and Kumar, so when they find something funny chances are that you do too. Therefore, the viewer probably also thinks the commercial is an overly dramatic joke and that pot is harmless, using rhetoric. In "Becoming a Marihuana User" Howard Becker explains that one requirement for being a 'certain type of person' who smokes pot is having the desire to be high off weed. It is clear that Harold and Kumar have the desire, despite the commercial's warnings, because they actually know what it feels like to be high. There lies another requirement: the stoner has to know what to expect, the symptoms, etc. The third key word, power, comes into play with how a "pot smoker" is portrayed in the media and text. When admired figures such as Harold and Kumar are found smoking weed it becomes immitatable. These guys are funny, Kumar is a chill guy, and even Harold, the polar opposite of Kumar, smokes weed which makes it a relatable guilty pleasure for all types of people. This is where the power of media, and which substances are portrayed in it, affect how we perceive groups(e.g. pot smokers). As long as artists, maybe those who partake in marujuana smoking, are the people who control our entertainment, such as films, things like weed will be portrayed as 'normal.'