Great points and understanding of Total Recall’s ambiguity.
Other examples: pills in Alice in Wonderland, peyote in Young Guns (“we’re in the Spirit World, asshole, they can’t see us”), LSD in The Doors giving vision of the band, and mj in Platoon.
In Platoon, Jack-Daniels-drinking Barnes says “you guys smoke this shit to escape reality?… I am reality.” No, he’s delusional. His poor decision gets Gardner killed and Chris shot. He murders a Vietnamese woman which dooms him to a court-martial. He murders Elias which weakens the platoon. He almost murders Chris but they’re both concussed by a bomb. Liquor can make people black out and not remember reality, but mj can help people think more deeply about reality. Elias smokes mj and he’s the best soldier and Sargent in the platoon. He treats the Privates kindly so they have a chance to become good soldiers. He’s got the guts to be a tunnel rat. He diagnoses the enemies’ crossfire and outflanks them. He’s the first to realize that America is going to lose the war.
Great points and understanding of Total Recall’s ambiguity.
Other examples: pills in Alice in Wonderland, peyote in Young Guns (“we’re in the Spirit World, asshole, they can’t see us”), LSD in The Doors giving vision of the band, and mj in Platoon.
In Platoon, Jack-Daniels-drinking Barnes says “you guys smoke this shit to escape reality?… I am reality.” No, he’s delusional. His poor decision gets Gardner killed and Chris shot. He murders a Vietnamese woman which dooms him to a court-martial. He murders Elias which weakens the platoon. He almost murders Chris but they’re both concussed by a bomb. Liquor can make people black out and not remember reality, but mj can help people think more deeply about reality. Elias smokes mj and he’s the best soldier and Sargent in the platoon. He treats the Privates kindly so they have a chance to become good soldiers. He’s got the guts to be a tunnel rat. He diagnoses the enemies’ crossfire and outflanks them. He’s the first to realize that America is going to lose the war.