Movie Tagline: Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a starter home. Choose dental insurance, leisure wear, and matching luggage. Choose your future. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?
With the recent announcement of a sequel, now seemed like a perfect time to write about the one of the most influential drug movies of the 90s, Trainspotting. This film is responsible for bringing so many talented young people to prominence, including Ewan McGregor, Johnny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kelly MacDonald, Kevin McKidd, and director Danny Boyle. It is also a very divisive film, as people like to argue about whether it demonizes or glamorizes the use of hard drugs. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. After all, who's to say a movie can't do both. Things are rarely ever so cut and dry. One thing is for sure: these are all very talented people making a product that is aggressively unconcerned with being attractive. No one in this movie comes off as anything other than a total dirtbag. Even Spud, who is arguably the most likeable character, is still a degenerate junkie. Renton, the protagonist, is a junkie who (unknowingly) has sex with a 14 year old and eventually screws over all of his junkie friends. And both of these characters have notable issues with their bowels, in scenes that push gross-out comedy to new lows (highs?) with their graphic depictions of diarrhea. You know a movie is good when it has multiple depictions of diarrhea. Which brings us to The Brown Note, one of the most controversial beer labels in existence. A cursory search of the BeerAdvocate forums will reveal an intense hatred for this label. In a world of awful Evil Twin and Flying Dog and Hoppin' Frog labels, this one takes the top prize. And it's not hard to see why. Even in the realm of beer labels, which are not known for being subtle or mature, this one is extreme. It paints a picture of a series of poor life choices on par with those of the characters in Trainspotting. Unfortunate tattoos, unhealthy weight gain, a missing limb, and, of course, fouled underpants. But, like with Trainspotting, this is a work of art that is not afraid to be ugly. Against the Grain is not concerned with offending people. But the product inside is capable of overcoming the defiantly unappealing label. This is true of most of their beers, whose labels all tend to be remarkably unpleasant. And it's true of The Brown Note, which has perhaps the biggest hurdle to overcome with its label. But it is a very solid Brown Ale, with rich malty notes and a light-bodied mouthfeel that lends itself to having more than one. Easy drinking and mild, the controversy of this one stops with its label. Skirting controversy is a good way to drum up interest, and Trainspotting was no stranger to controversy. Presidential candidate Bob Dole called the film morally depraved, and accused it of glorifying drug use during his campaign, although he later admitted that he had not actually viewed the film. This seems to be a common occurrence for fear-mongering movie protesters. But the hyper-realistic action and the vivid colors of the movie only serve to reinforce the crazy lengths these characters will go to in order to feed their various addictions. And they are not all addicted to heroin. There are many varieties of addiction on display here: alcohol, sex, caffeine, attention, normalcy, violence. People can get addicted to anything. At the end, when Renton "chooses life", he is still an addict. He is just choosing to be addicted to something else. Something a little less destructive. And, hopefully, something that involves crawling into fewer toilets.
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