The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Illegal Drugs, Explained in LEGO: A 1970s PSA

In the 1950s and 60s, singer Anita Bryant made a name for herself as a vocal gay rights opponent. (Take that, Anita.) In the 1970s, she added illegal drugs to her roster of targets and narrated a short “documentary” on the evils of drugs titled Drugs Are Like That, in which two school-aged children discuss their knowledge of drugs whilst constructing a giant LEGO monster. Though many of its metaphors make little sense, its odd medley of campy and condescending is a head-scratcher, and a number of its arguments are scientifically questionable, the film is nonetheless visually beautiful and creatively innovative for its time. That, or at the very least an entertaining paleofuture treat for your Wednesday. (For a better metaphor using LEGOs, see my thoughts on networked knowledge and combinatorial creativity.)

Watch or download the full 16-minute version from the Prelinger Archives — it’s public domain footage, which makes it remix material of the finest kind, ahem…

via MetaFilter


Published August 10, 2011

https://www.themarginalian.org/2011/08/10/drugs-are-like-this-lego-anita-bryant/

BP

www.themarginalian.org

BP

PRINT ARTICLE

Filed Under

View Full Site

The Marginalian participates in the Bookshop.org and Amazon.com affiliate programs, designed to provide a means for sites to earn commissions by linking to books. In more human terms, this means that whenever you buy a book from a link here, I receive a small percentage of its price, which goes straight back into my own colossal biblioexpenses. Privacy policy. (TLDR: You're safe — there are no nefarious "third parties" lurking on my watch or shedding crumbs of the "cookies" the rest of the internet uses.)