Many people love movies for the escape they can provide from the monotony of everyday life. After a long day, it’s nice to immerse yourself into any world of your choosing. Whatever your craving may be, the movie menu of the universe will likely have an option for you.
There is no doubt that smoking a joint can enrich the viewing experience to new terrain and there is nothing wrong with that. However, what if we decided to approach every movie as a spiritual experience within itself?
By spiritual experience, I mean watching a film completely in the present moment without any phones or computers. Also, using breathing and mindfulness to enter a certain cinematic reverie that can put the incessant thinking of our life problems on hold. I hold no shame in admitting that the most memorable examples in my life of achieving true engrossment and flow have come from watching beautiful movies.
Want to enter the underground crime scene of Harlem in the ’70s? Or maybe, on a particular night, you feel like entering a post-apocalyptic future filled with intelligent apes. Either way, no pill or pipe required, the screen can fulfill your desires.
Watching every movie through a certain spiritual lens — whether that be mindfulness or transformation — can uplift you in a way that drugs simply can’t.
By a “certain lens,” I more specifically mean applying your own struggles or ambitions to the movie. For example, I won’t just watch “Whiplash” for the 10th time and be merely mesmerized by the music, atmosphere and out-of-this-world acting, as entertaining as that may be. Instead, I fully apply my own ideas and perspectives to the scenes and themes of the movie.
When watching a movie like “Whiplash” — which has themes of intense drive and ambition — I intentionally ask myself: are there areas of my own life that I want to really lock in for? What do I want to really begin putting serious hours of my days into? Is it worth sacrificing other parts of my life to accomplish near-perfection in this one thing?
It’s worth mentioning that the reason I picked up the drums in middle school was solely that I saw a bleeding and sweaty Miles Teller pushing himself to be the best drummer there ever was. I may not have immediately attended the best music school in the country, but I started playing a little bit each day on my drum pad. This led to a place in the middle school band and eventually drum lessons on an actual drum set — all from one viewing experience.
This may sound counterintuitive, considering that I previously mentioned I like to shut down my thoughts while watching a movie. Sometimes, I do indeed believe a complete departure from the self is best while watching. However, if I am intentionally drawing attention to a certain part of my life as I watch a movie, I find that this acts as its own kind of spiritual departure. One that arises organically and can cause immense self-discovery and improvement.
As you can see, watching a film through an intentional, personalized lens can tailor the viewing experience for what you need at that moment.
And there is no shortage of films that have the potential to inspire a new outlook. For example, watching Sidney Lumet’s “12 Angry Men” led me to seriously question my own judgment and internal bias against people.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” exposes the acquisitive, distasteful nature of capitalism through a gothic lens, making me reconsider my priorities around money. Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket” points to the incessant and brutal violence that took place in Vietnam, which viscerally changed how I looked at warfare, seeing it as a facet of life that is actually human, not an intangible historical phenomenon.
Every movie has some kind of pertinent takeaway, like these ones, if you just look deep enough.
There’s no denying drugs can give rise to reflection — ask any rock artist from the ’60s. However, the power of a movie to cause tangible change in my life has been unlike any substance I’ve experienced. From “Whiplash” motivating me to be a drummer, to “City of God” encouraging me to express myself artistically, most things in my life can be traced back to movies.
All of this to say, maybe if the pre-movie ritual shifts from puff, puff, pass to pause, ponder, philosophize, the viewing experience can get you high naturally.
Sometimes, puff, puff, pass is irresistible and can indeed, when you’re in tune with your senses, make you feel what a movie wants you to feel at an intimate level. However, intentional breathing and mindfulness are a very valid alternative to consider.
Also, some movies that portray drug use in a certain light often leave me with such a unique sense of calm and tranquility that is similar to the effect of drugs themselves. What instantly comes to mind here is the cinematic masterpiece “Friday.”
The plot of “Friday” is perfectly simple. Craig, played by Ice Cube, gets fired from his grocery store job on a Friday and finds himself getting involved with a weed dealer and good friend Smokey, played by Chris Tucker. Words can not do this movie nearly enough justice, as the surreally choreographed atmosphere brings you into the movie. I feel like I am right there on the porch with Craig and Smokey smoking a joint and venting about life.
“Friday” creates an inherent high and surreal feeling that transfers from the screen to my brain. Despite “Friday” being one of the quintessential movies to watch while high, maybe substance use actually acts as a barrier against the natural high that the cinematic experience from a movie like this offers by itself.
Because it’s easy to resonate with Craig’s frustration with his bickering family, his work situation and the whole world around him, this is a movie I come back to whenever I am feeling down and have the urge to escape reality for a little while. I get a natural high, ironically, from a movie that, in a way, glorifies drugs. It would seem that “Friday” is both my pipe and lighter — the ultimate transporter, into a world I will never enter in reality.
Good movies satisfy the same craving that drug use can, all without the negatives, like brain fog, dreariness or withdrawal in the days to come. It is funny that television as a whole is demonized throughout most people’s childhoods, but just maybe, television is where some of the angels lie.
So, let’s think about dropping the pen and watching Sean Penn in “One Battle After Another” sober. Or, putting down the bowl to listen to some mesmerizing melodies in Pixar’s “Soul”. Not tripping off of that gummy, instead, eating a hearty meal while watching some thought-provoking Jordan Peele. Instead of getting wasted at the night club, just watch some “Fight Club.” Not spiking your dopamine levels artificially — instead, letting Spike Lee’s cinematography immerse you into the screen.
Jacob Lieser is a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.