Rejecting pornography, refusing toxins-complete plot analysis

Ludwig 2021-12-14 08:01:11

The background of the story is in a certain future. Drugs are rampant. Even though surveillance has reached the level of pervasiveness, 20% of people are still victimized by drugs. The police are completely unable to contain this situation. One of the most harmful is a new type of drug called D-Substance, which can become addictive only once. Its raw material is a blue flower. In such an environment, the drug rehabilitation industry came into being. A company called New Path used the social status gained by operating drug rehabilitation centers and sponsoring non-profit organizations. They reached an agreement with the government and obtained the right to be free from surveillance. Therefore, the police suspect that lawless New Path is actually the biggest source of drugs. The character Bob/Fred played by Keanu Reeves is an ordinary undercover agent. Due to the pervasive surveillance, undercover agents and their counterparts in the police station must wear a Scramble Suit when meeting to hide their appearance, thus forming a double security-the undercover agent does not know his boss, and the boss does not know the actual identity of the undercover agent. This will better carry out undercover work. In the police station, Keanu Reeves is codenamed Fred, and in daily life he is Bob. He usually hangs out with a few drug addicts and maintains an affair with Donna, a woman who sells drugs. At this time, his boss Hank assigned Fred to monitor Bob, that is, to monitor himself (theoretically, the boss didn't know that Fred was Bob, so there is nothing wrong with it), and told Fred that he hoped that he would use this to find out who is behind the drug supply chain. This action eventually led to Bob/Fred's mental breakdown. Due to his daily tasks, he often took D-Substance when he was with addicts. At the same time, monitoring oneself put Bob/Fred in a huge role split. During the police department’s health check of the undercover, the police psychologist believed that the drugs had already caused some damage to him. (You don’t need to wear Scramble when you see a psychologist. Suit disguise, which means that disguise is only enabled for undercover joints. ) This series of psychological tests also caused Bob/Fred to be in a bad mood, and told the psychologist that he had always wanted to sleep with Donna but was rejected. At this time, the psychiatrist suggested that he could send his girlfriend blue flowers (important foreshadowing). Afterwards, meaningless monitoring made Bob/Fred's mental state worsen. Due to his own world-weariness, suspicious past (here the movie briefly explained his previous family, before and after he also claimed to have two daughters, but in the end it did not say whether all of this is real or a drug hallucination) and other factors Next, he himself started to take D-Substance in large quantities. At the same time, his relationship with Donna still didn't make any progress. After being rejected again, he slept with other women in a rage, but finally made his mood worse. At the end of the mission, Bob/Fred’s addict roommate Barris tried to give false testimony to report Bob/Fred’s reactionary activities, but went to jail instead. At this time, his boss Hank told Bob/Fred that he had guessed that Fred was Bob, and the reason why he lied to perform this task was to trigger Bob/Fred's abnormal behavior, which aroused Barris's suspicion and led the snake out of the hole. Bob/Fred, who knew the truth, collapsed completely unconscious. However, all this is not the ultimate truth of the facts. In fact, Bob/Fred’s boss, Hank, is Donna himself. The purpose of careful planning of the entire incident is to make Bob/Fred over-take drugs in a stressful environment, and eventually find that he is being used and has a complete mental breakdown. Bob/Fred, who became a waste, was sent to New Path for drug treatment, and due to a severe disorder, he was selected as a worker to send to New Path’s mysterious farm. Because only people with severe mental disorders have the opportunity to enter there, and no one can visit, there are only two opportunities a year to return to the drug rehabilitation center for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The police placed the bet on Bob/Fred’s mental state being able to recover part of it on his own, thus bringing back evidence to the farm and destroying New Path. At the end of the film, Bob/Fred, who was completely unaware and insane, was working on the farm when he suddenly found blue flowers on the ground, which evoked his memories. At this time, he picked one of them and murmured to himself that he would give it to his friend as a gift (remembering the psychological suggestion of the psychiatrist before). —————— The plot of the film begins to reverse at the end ten minutes. The narration in the middle section is actually Bob/Fred’s daily tasks, and has no practical meaning, just to cause his collapse. However, the reason why it takes so much space to describe the life of an addict is because Philip K. Dick, the author of the original novel of the film, is also troubled by drug addiction. The author made a long list in the postscript to commemorate the friends who died or suffered permanent physical injury due to drug use, including himself, "permanent pancreatic injury." The author concludes by saying that the biggest and most unforgivable enemy is "Mistaken in playing" to alert the world.

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Extended Reading
  • Priscilla 2021-12-14 08:01:11

    I'm dizzy...but...if I know his thoughtfulness...it's a good movie

  • Gayle 2022-04-20 09:01:43

    Live-action filmed and then made into a similar animation style? This film is a bit depressing, in line with Levi's drama since The Matrix

A Scanner Darkly quotes

  • Fred: [voiceover] Crazy job they gave me. But if I wasn't doing it, someone else would be. And they might get it wrong. They might set Arctor up, plant drugs on him and collect a reward. Better it be me, despite the disadvantages. Just protecting everyone from Barris is justification in itself. What the hell am I talking about? I must be nuts. I know Bob Arctor. He's a good person. He's up to nothing. At least nothing too bad. In fact, he works for the Orange County Sheriff's office covertly, which is probably why Barris is after him. But that wouldn't explain why the Orange County Sheriff's office is after him. Something big is definitely going down in this house. This rundown, rubble-filled house with its weed patch yard and cat box that never gets emptied. What a waste of a truly good house. So much could be done with it. A family and children could live here. It was designed for that. Such a waste. They ought to confiscate it and put it to better use. I'm supposed to act like they aren't here. Assuming there's a "they" at all. It may just be my imagination. Whatever it is that's watching, it's not human, unlike little dark eyed Donna. It doesn't ever blink. What does a scanner see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does it see into me, into us? Clearly or darkly? I hope it sees clearly, because I can't any longer see into myself. I see only murk. I hope for everyone's sake the scanners do better. Because if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I do, then I'm cursed and cursed again. I'll only wind up dead this way, knowing very little, and getting that little fragment wrong too.

  • Luckman: Well! So much for our great trip to San Diego Bob, I told you we should have gone to San Francisco.

    Barris: What like going to San Francisco would not have caused this problem with the engine?

    Luckman: Yeah because when you're going north, it screws this way, and when you're going south it screws that way!

    Barris: If we were in Australia!