1. What do drugs mean to Ickarus?
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| <http://kalojanedelchev.blogspot.com/2009/11/ berlin-calling-2008.html> October, 2011 |
- Drugs are a way for Ickarus to escape the hectic life he lives. It's a way to escape from the turmoil he's been through regards to the changes within the country, loss of his mother, and lack of acceptance. Drugs also allow Ickarus to have a deeper connection with the one thing that's been there for him through everything, his music. By taking drugs his mind is altered and he hears beats differently and notices details he wouldn't be able to focus on when he's sober. Drugs are also a way to keep up with his fans, many of his fans also take drugs to connect to the music and escape reality.
2. Why, when, and how are his fans taking drugs, and which drugs do they take?
- Some of the drugs his fans take are pills, keratine, ecstasy, cocaine, and PMA (strong hallucinagen). They typically take these drugs while at shows (before, during, and/or after for the 'after party'). In the movie the drug shown taken the most was cocaine, doing lines in the bathroom or anywhere they could. Most of the fans take the drugs for the same reasons as Ickarus. They take the drugs mainly to connect with the music and people around them, but I'm sure many of them take the drugs to escape reality and anything that is troubling them.
3. While we can see that his drug habits get him ill and into a psychosis, and while we witness his relapse and inability to work successfully, why does the subculture Ickarus is in focus on drugs?
- It almost seems as if Germany was going through their 'hippy days' we witnessed in America during the sixties and seventies. But, the difference is that our drug era was spurred by war and Germany's seemed to be started from the wall coming down. The wall is down and now everyone has a lot more space and is exposed to people from a different society, they didn't know what to do with themselves. More freedom. So, the youth began to express themselves and experiment with things that probably weren't familiar. Techno became a hit and along with it drugs, the youth could escape the weird, ever changing reality they were thrown into.
4. Compare the standards you know from your home society with the people you see depicted in this movie. Which are the stark differences and contrasts?
- First and foremost, growing up in good ol' Saint Cloud, Minnesota sex is looked at as a more private, naughty activity that people don't discuss. Where as in Berlin Calling it is shown for what it is, part of life, something that's beautiful, normal, natural, and whatever you want it to be (referring to the scene where both woman and Ickarus were sexually involved). This movie was also different when it came to the scene of drug users, which is understandable because of the size of the town. Berlin is very large and the larger the town is the more people with differences can connect. So, there was a larger population of people using drugs and being more open then people in my community because the population of drug users isn't as large. I also noticed that it seems males are more affectionate then what I've grown up with. Icarus was affectionate with his brother and father several times embracing them in long hugs. It also seemed that they seemed more reserved about their emotions initially but when they did express them they would express a lot of emotion. I feel like where I've grown up people tend to express a lot of emotion all of the time.
5. Germany is considered a strong industrial nation the world over. Do you think that the youth culture as depicted here could change that? How about work ethics of Ickarus and of Alice, the label director who fires and then resigns him?
- Yes, I could see that Germany might move away from industrial and more towards media. But, I think that Germany will always have a strong industry because it seems to be Germany's core foundation for the time being. I think every society's work ethics have depleated in the last fifty years since there isn't as much need for human production (replaced by machines), so people have more free time and less jobs. Alice seemed to have a strong work ethic and Ickarus did not seem to have much work ethic at all.
6. Which similar "cult movies" of US origin have you seen, if any?
- Rocky Horror Picture Show, Pink Floyd's: The Great Wall, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Twilight series (?), Dazed and Confused
| <http://www.sodahead.com/entertainment/what-is-your-favorite- bookbook-series-at-the-moment/question-839243/> October, 2011 |
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