Cocaine Addiction In Less Than Zero

In Less Than Zero, cocaine addiction tests a group of three friends against the backdrop of glamorous, 1980’s Los Angeles. I chose this film because I’ve read the novel by Bret Easton Ellis. While the movie differs quite a bit from the book, it still touches on some key points about drug use that Ellis speaks to in the novel. At the beginning of the film, Clay, Julian, and Blair have graduated high school in Beverly Hills. Clay chooses to leave and attend a prestigious university. Blair (Clay’s girlfriend) stays in Los Angeles because she is too afraid to go to school. Julian’s father gives him a large sum of money to start his own recording studio. By Thanksgiving, Clay returns to Los Angeles to find Julian and Blair sleeping together. At

Julian’s addiction was explored at a deeper level than Blair’s. Blair uses cocaine throughout the movie and at one point tells Clay that she can stop whenever she wants. Blair and Julian both have some issues with their families which could be possible reasons for their addictions. Blair has been neglected by her parents. She shows up on Christmas Eve to say hello and her father won’t come out of the bedroom to greet her. Julian has been given everything by his father at a very young age and he struggles to manage the money and freedom he has. Both have exorbitant amounts of money to spend on drugs and no real responsibilities that would keep them from using. Without anything serious to pursue in their lives, they both seem to be living without any real meaning. They turn to drugs for pleasure and to escape. The end of Blair’s drug use is suggested by her demeanor at the end of the film, but is never confronted head on. Julian’s death may have served as a wake up call.

Less Than Zero is a film that demonstrates how powerful a drug addiction can be and that no amount of lecturing, pleading and care can change someone’s drug habit. Addicts need support systems but the decision to get clean comes from within. In the end, Julian was in too deep and the only person who could have ended his drug addiction was