This may be pretty obvious, but I'm going to say it anyway.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Bigger Than Life
chapmanshomer — 14 years ago(September 26, 2011 09:22 AM)
This may be pretty obvious, but I'm going to say it anyway.
This is not a film about drug addiction at all. it is merely an excuse in order to show the frailties and facades of 50s domestic life.
When Mason is berating his son for not being good at football, it is supposed to be because of the cortisone. But overbearing fathers taking an unhealthy interest in their son's sporting careers is a familiar scene in real life.
He decides to kill his son after reading the bible. Cortisone? No. This is illustrating how misguided minds have committed atrocities because of religion.
And his grandiose plans to leave home and pursue a 'life work'. Is this not the American dream?
These are just some ways in which Nicholas Ray criticised the society he lived in through this film. It just shows how conservative and narrow-minded society was that he could not deal with these issues openly the way films can today. (American Beauty comes to mind)
"truly, my Satan, thou art but a dunce"-William Blake -
Mod1911 — 14 years ago(October 02, 2011 09:16 PM)
I think you are kidding yourself if you think that Mason's character would have behaved the way he did without the abuse of the drug he was given by his doctors. To say "This is not a film about drug addiction at all" is quite a reach in my opinion. (though Ray is obviously making several strong comments on 1950's America)
"Give up a dollar for Jesus!" Esa Hawks -
chapmanshomer — 14 years ago(October 03, 2011 12:17 PM)
Yes, saying it is not about drug addiction at all is quite a reach. Saying it is only about drug addiction on the surface would be expressing myself better.
I think Mason's character wanted to behave the way he did, even before the cortisone (to an extent). At the start of the film, he expresses dissatisfaction with his life. He tells his wife "we're dull". He has a second job and is too ashamed to tell his wife, preferring to let her think he's having an affair. Even little things like the posters of European cities on the walls of his house shows his longing for something more exciting than American suburbia. When he expresses his distaste for television and the lack of a challenge that the crosswords provide, i think this shows his belief that he has a superior mind.
The cortisone just gives him the inflated sense of self he needed.
"truly, my Satan, thou art but a dunce"-William Blake -
hodie — 14 years ago(October 18, 2011 07:05 PM)
No. Though it's indirectly a film about addiction (in that habituation caused him to abuse the drug), it's about the effects of his abuse of a substance he needed to function normally ( and stay alive!). He didn't start having grandiose thoughts (and acting out on them) until the cortisone started affecting the normal functioning of his brain. He had accepted the "menial" garage job until the drug made him think he was way too good for it.
He may have been discontent with his life, but I think that was a personal problem he had. The other men weren't taking second jobs and hiding them from their wives.
I grew up in the 50's and it was not common for fathers to want to murder their sons for being less than superkids. He was definitely psychotic, and it was a side effect of all the cortisone he had been taking.
"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?" -
molly-31 — 14 years ago(December 04, 2011 10:07 PM)
You're right that it isn't about drug
addiction
. He wasn't addicted, it was a side effect. But when you go insane the way he did, a lot of times you start doing exaggerated versions of normal things, or stuff you'd always wanted to do. Read about the real guy this happened to:
http://www.filmforum.org/films/bigger/TenFeetTall.pdf
(You also get to see the ads the New Yorker had at that time, which give you a great sense of people's views about things back then, especially women!)
Don't forget your tsvets! -
hodie — 13 years ago(April 13, 2012 05:42 PM)
I have to disagree. His mood swings had nothing to do with '50s angst. He was not in his right mind because of the cortisone. Whether he was officially "addicted" or not doesn't matter; he was habituated to the drug, needed increasing dosages, and ended up resorting to fraud to get much more than he was supposed to be taking. I don't really see a functional difference.
I assume his abuse of the drug made his mood swings worse. Scary story.
"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?" -
musicbymartin — 13 years ago(January 28, 2013 09:04 AM)
I think the OP is right, even before he takes the drug, he shows some of his true colours. "Everyone in that room was dull!" He says early on. He has a double-life like a dual personality - two jobs. Plus, look at his criticism of the kids paintings early on.
All that cortisone does is amplify Avery's already cynical view of other people and the world around him. -
rick-220 — 9 years ago(October 17, 2016 02:32 AM)
These are just some ways in which Nicholas Ray criticised the society he lived in through this film. It just shows how conservative and narrow-minded society was that he could not deal with these issues openly the way films can today.
Excellent observation.
When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser. Aristotle