Drugs are one of the most pressing problems in the world, shown not only in the news but also in movies. In most of the paintings of the last century and the present, the theme of drugs is very common. In both these movies, it is demonstrated how using drugs affects people’s lives. Drugs destroy the person, and they turn them into a being without moral principles and will. The addict is ready to do anything for a new dose. They will overstep the law and sacrifice anything that has mattered to them. The family of a drug addict also suffers very much. Their relationships with close people are destroyed; trust and respect are lost. The addict becomes distant from parents and children, becomes withdrawn and distrustful.
Drugs and related business is a complex phenomenon, its structure, influence, and depth of penetration into society. For instance, in Traffic supreme court justice Robert Wakefield is given the task of leading the war against drug traffickers. Drug lords and corrupt police officers, private detectives, and harmless housewives form a complicated scheme. In the process, the judge discovers that his seventeen-year-old daughter is a heroin addict. It is incredibly profitable, and many people are engaged in it.
Whole cartels fight for the right to distribute, make their way through bribery, or simply remove obstacles; groups of teenagers get hooked on them, continuing to spread and develop a network. And when one encounters them, and slightly touches and immerses oneself in that world, it is difficult to remain pure and untainted. In Traffic, the focus is on the fate of three characters: Javier, Robert, and Helen. The film consists of several storylines that develop in parallel. The transition between them is made very harmoniously. “The intertwined stories of Helena, Montel, Javier, and Robert constitute Soderbergh’s gloomy depiction of the world of drug trafficking and drug addiction.” (Palmer 247).
You can see that each story differs in the color scheme of the image (yellow, brown-the story of Javier Rodriguez; blue tones — the family drama of Robert Wakefield). The obstacle that three of them have encountered is drugs. It is against them that Javier, a Mexican police officer who wants to clear his country of this poison, is fighting, as is Robert. Helen’s problem is that her husband is accused of drug dealing, and it’s hard for her to deal with the consequences of her husband’s affairs.
These two movies show us that drugs affect not only the addict’s life, but it puts everyone who is around them in danger. In Scarface, Tony, as his mother says, is the one who hurts and destroys everything in his life. His sister, Gina, represents the only pure and bright thing in the life of the main character. He truly loves her and wants to protect her, but these feelings gradually turn into overprotection and desire to control and subdue, and it ends up with her death. Elvira, his wife, is the most coveted trophy in this story, a dream woman, but like any trophy, she has nothing but external attractiveness.
People must be able to stop in time, and they must know the measure; otherwise, everything will end in disaster. Money and drugs ruin people, just like they ruined Tony Montana. By the end of the film, he becomes irritable, grumpy, and stingy. The relationship with the best friend slowly deteriorates, and as for his marriage, there is hatred and neglect between Tony and his wife. This film is primarily about the thirst for power and what happens to people who want to rule the whole world. Tony’s lust for power leads him to lose control over everything, his wife, friend, sister, and finally, he loses control over himself. As a result, his wife leaves him; he kills his best friend and ruins his sister’s life.
As the film Traffic demonstrates, the problem is complex and yet insurmountable. One of the main characters, Robert Wakefield, says, “If there is a war on drugs, then many of our family members are the enemy. And I don’t know how you wage war on your own family.” The first thing to do to solve this matter is to start with yourself and your family, relatives, and friends. The theme is painful, serious, and it is natural that Traffic cannot but catch, interest, and affect the viewer.
The drug problem affects all segments of society literally. The Director shows two worlds — the desert, the dying world of Mexico, and the world of America following in its footsteps. Surprisingly, Steven Soderbergh managed to finish the film in a positive way, showing a stadium where children play baseball.
In essence, this is a kind of symbol of hope and faith in something better. All lines in these films share the same problem. The problem is not in “evil drug lords”, it lies much deeper — in the society itself: in indulging momentary desires and vices. “Characters routinely struggle even to understand the problems they face” (Krzych 124). The police are trying to protect society from drug dealers, from whom this very society buys drugs. No demand — no trade.
These two movies are both philosophical parables and almost documentary stories about gangsters and police officers (but rather crime and punishment). Scarface and Traffic show us crime as a transnational business, an integral part of society as a whole, a lifestyle, a career path, an element of mentality, and so on. Tony Montana has chosen his criminal career, and he is a businessman, ready to do anything for power and profit, straightforward and ruthless, obsessed with his own figure. “Scarface is still very much with us. Its cautionary tale of greed and excess seems to be perennially relevant.” (Stevenson 92). This film is about the abrupt, unexpected rise, and inevitable fall of an ambitious criminal authority.
As for the Traffic, it tells the audience how hard it has become to fight the distribution of drugs. They have “penetrated” deeply into families (including the families of the drug traffickers themselves), political structures (General Salazar), schools, and have become accessible to young people. For the supply of cocaine and other types of harmful substances, bloody battles are fought, and the most exotic delivery methods are invented (a doll made entirely of cocaine). Sometimes even local victory in that war is achieved at the cost of broken families and lost friends. All attempts of the old generation to stop this disease look like a meaningless flickering and fuss. The youth is poisoned and rotten, and the new generation has no ideas, no purpose, and no meaning; hence, there is no future.
Outside of the criminal context, there is a more general idea in these movies – the conflict of personality and society. The attempt of a person to change their borders within society leads to the fact that society will destroy this person. It is easier to see that, especially in the criminal environment. Tony Montana may seem like a simple killer, but he has very big ambitions, and almost from the very beginning, we can understand that this person does not want to live by the laws of society, he wants to set these laws himself.
De Palma turned the story of a criminal into a tragedy, and the root of this tragedy is in the personality of Tony Montana itself. This person rushes through life like a madman, trying to make up for lost opportunities, as it seems to him. In Cuba, he was locked up in captivity, but now the whole world was spread out before him, though this world has yet to be conquered. He does not listen to the warnings of his boss and friends – that everyone in this world occupies a niche, and anyone who ignores this rule – dies. The following dialogue is quite revealing:
Tony Montana: “Me, I want what’s coming to me.”
Manny: “Oh, well… what’s coming to you?”
Tony Montana: “The world, Chico, and everything in it.” (Scarface)
There are no boundaries for him, and Tony wants everything here and now.
To some extent, this path was shown in Theodore Dreiser’s famous novel “An American Tragedy” in the figure of Clyde Griffiths. Easy money, large beautiful mansions, a power that is not obtained by hard, daily, exhausting work – that is a lifestyle that both Clyde and Tony longed for. The shadow of this novel seems to lie over this film. The details are different, but the general principles and general statements of the problem remain the same. “Scarface” continues a tradition that began in American literature continued in American cinema and is embodied in American reality. Miami, where the film is set, is shown as a real Paradise – a symbol of the American dream — beautiful beaches, pools, summer – and the bloodshed that sometimes happens in these places.
All the main characters of these two movies face severe problems in their lives, and they have to make the right decision. The hero of Al Pacino evokes controversial feelings in viewers. According to Clayton, the antihero is an amorally characterized protagonist who shares characteristics and depicted motifs with the traditional hero yet is prohibited from manifesting moral closure in the film’s climax, as the plot structure inevitably resists moral closure in any antihero narrative (93) On the one hand, Tony is a criminal, a murderer, a drug dealer, but on the other hand, Tony is a strong person with principles, not devoid of nobility.
He tries to act justly and not to cross certain boundaries. Tony refuses to set off an explosion that could injure children. He marries for love and remains faithful to his wife, despite family problems. Tony protects his family, keeps his word, even if it might cost him his life, also he is engaged in charity work. This combination of positive and negative sides makes the character more realistic and makes the audience empathize with him.
Tony Montana is neither demonized by its creators nor idealized. Fetzer states that this Hollywood dramatization of the “immigrant criminal” receives ample rhetorical support (83). He is not an absolute villain, but he is not turned into a noble Robin Hood either. Like all of us, Tony is torn by internal doubts and contradictions, temptations.
These films lead to long-term reflections on the interaction of man and the law, society, and power, and also create a brilliant visual series that has a powerful emotional impact. Both of these movies demonstrate that problems are not around us, but within us, evil is inside of people.
Works Cited
Clayton, Terry L. The Essence of Film Narrative: A Metatheoretical Rhetorical Analysis of the Antihero Film as Moral Equipment for Living. University of Portland, 2016.
Fetzer, Joel S. Open Borders and International Migration Policy: The Effects of Unrestricted Immigration in the United States, France, and Ireland. Palgrave Pivot, 2016.
Krzych, Scott. “Circumstantial sublimation and Steven Soderbergh’s ordinary objects.” Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, vol. 23, no.2, 2018, pp. 123-140.
Palmer, R. The Philosophy of Steven Soderbergh. University Press of Kentucky, 2011.
Scarface. Directed by Brian De Palma, performances by Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Robert Loggia, F. Murray Abraham, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Universal Pictures, 1983.
Stevenson, Damian. Scarface: The Ultimate Guide. Enhanced Media Publishing, 2015.
Traffic. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, performs by Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Douglas, Erika Christensen, Luis Guzmán, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jacob Vargas, Tomas Milian, Topher Grace, James Brolin, Steven Bauer, and Benjamin Bratt, Bedford Falls Productions, 2000.