The House I Live in - Movie Review

The House I Live In Reflection

        The movie starts with a clip of Richard Nixon’s infamous “drug abuse is America’s public enemy number one” speech from 1971. It’s easy to understand the implications that this speech had on American society in the past 45 years. I like how he makes the transition to add a personal element in the story of the “War on Drugs”. He had a nanny growing up and her family who he was really close to often struggled with poverty, unemployment, and incarceration. A point that he brings into light early that I completely support is the fact that even though drugs are harmful, the war on drugs has been even more harmful. We all know and understand that doing drugs has some serious consequences on our health & mind, but the problems associated with society, class, and quality of life that the war on drugs causes far extends the medical problems. Even though the “war on drugs” is a wide range of laws that politicians have signed off on and some genuinely believe that it will help society progress and not just marginalize one particular group. Politicians don’t get most of the blame when its ill-effects come to light in the eyes of urban communities, but the people on the frontline enacting those laws or law enforcement are to blame in the eyes of the community. Both these groups Politicians & Law Enforcement think that their doing genuine good for American society or just following orders, but one thing they do not understand is that drug use/addiction are part of the human condition for a wide range of emotions. People do drugs to celebrate, to deal with turmoil, to keep their mind off unhappiness & problems, to get rid of stress, to escape the routine of reality, and even to find themselves. No matter how much money this government or any government spends into controlling drugs, users, and dealers. The human fascination with drugs will never change its internal and psychological, and I firmly believe that no one in the average American society is truly sober whether they know it or not. Sure traditional drugs have long been the accused party and for the most part these are the ones that will get people in trouble with the law. A quick list would be Cocaine, Marijuana, Psychedelics, Stimulants, Barbiturates, and Depressants, I will be the first to admit that these drugs genuinely cause imbalance in the human brain and mind. However, why are these given a special identity to be feared from? Why are their users subjected to a loss of their freedoms? Why are their billions and billions of dollars being poured into ruining the lives of anyone indirectly/directly associated with these drugs? However, the endorphins McDonald’s and other food chains pump into their ingredients that brings about a subtle pleasure/reward in any consumer not targeted. Why is the steroids that the food industry pump into Cattle, Chicken, and Pork that make these animals grow abnormally fast and create an extra layer of fat so consumers can get it at a cheaper price considered a drug? In this regard I think the food & legal drug industry are the biggest drug dealers in the world, but I doubt the CEO of McDonalds will ever be expecting a DEA raid at his house. The law enforcement is to blame for some parts of the underlying problems of the war on drugs, because they genuinely believe they’re eradicating some evil in American society. When this evil reaches far beyond typical drug dealers and users. That’s what I personally this movie is getting at, why subjectively accuse a certain group of our problems when our problems extend far beyond the impact that one group makes ?