Requiem For A Dream Analysis

Portrayal of drugs and addiction in Requiem for a Dream

In Requiem for a Dream, Harry Goldfarb who is the main character is portrayed as a heavy user of drugs. Goldfarb is addicted to heroin and other substances that can be injected into the veins. The film opens with a sign of Goldfarb’s addiction as he steals his mother’s television set in order to pawn for cash for purchase of drugs, which she later re-purchases and the cycle continues. Harry is evidently failing to play his social role as a son to get high. He develops preoccupation with drugs to the extent that it leads him to start purchasing and selling dope as a way of getting high and making money, rejecting conventional society. The film portrays various theories or models regarding drugs and addiction. For instance, the social-cultural model argues that the social world tends to affect individuals’ access to and interest in drugs. In the film, drugs are readily accessible in the Brighton Beach, making it easy for individuals to begin using and possible become dependent on the drugs.

The psychological model also suggests that there exist psychological factors that

In Requiem for a Dream, drug addiction is portrayed very accurately. Many sources romanticize the use of drugs and this film did not. it depicts the harsh realities about drug addiction as well as the way drugs destroy lives and relationships. It accurately portrays the symptoms and signs as well as the progressive course of substance abuse and the disorder, even though it does not provide a direct answer as to how, why, and when Harry and his peers were introduced to substances in the first place. The movie picks up when the main character, Harry, is already heavily abusing a number of drugs. It does not provide a clear-cut rationale as to why Harry continues to use substances, but one is able to infer why through an analysis of the relationships and settings within the