Analysis Of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

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Josh Jacoby One critical framework that we see throughout all of the media today that tries to get the message out to the audience is conventions. Conventions are the use of different lighting, camera angles, sound effects, and music that try to reveal a message. In this paper we will examine the conventions in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and how they are used to describe what is right and wrong in society and what the true American dream is. Before Terry Gilliam made the movie, there was a book of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thomson. The story focuses on the Raoul Duke and his Attorney Dr. Gonzo going through Las Vegas searching for the American dream. The film stars Johnny Depp who portrays Raoul Duke and Benicio Del Toro who portrays Dr.Gonzo. Originally in the movie they were supposed to report on the mint 400-motorcycle race but instead they decided to experiment with recreational drugs such as cocaine, mescaline, ether, acid, marijuana, and adrenacome. This led them to be very reckless and dangerous throughout Las Vegas. The director, Terry Gilliam does a very good job of presenting conventions right from the start of the film. The film starts off with Raoul Duke and Dr.Gonzo getting everything together to make the trip to Vegas. On the way Raoul takes a tab of acid and they have to make it to their hotel before it kicks into his system during the drive. Dr.Gonzo says to Raoul “it would be a miracle if we could make it there before you turn into a wild animal”. As the drive continues they show a sign that says don’t gamble with marijuana and in Nevada possession or sale means 20 years to life in jail. This is ironic because they have a lot more than marijuana on hem and they are going to the heart of Las ... ... middle of paper ... ...eys look at him and everything stops except for the slow dancing music. When he looked up, there was a mirror on the ceiling showing everyone looking at him. He also was carrying his briefcase with him, which was full of random drugs, which is ironic because it was a drug convention. When everyone is waiting on line to check in, Raoul cuts in front of everyone including an officer who wasn’t able to get a room that he booked. Everyone behind him on the line is yelling at each other and all you see is Raoul walking calmly away to his room. When he gets to the room Dr.Gonzo is there and they do mescaline before they go to the convention. As the convention is going on and an officer is talking to everyone there, the camera switches to Raoul and Dr.Gonzo doing cocaine at their seats. No one notices that there doing it even when part of the container spills on the floor.

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