fun fact: any policy on drugs that isn’t harm reduction is going to cause addicts to suffer and die
fun fact: Drug addiction is a public health issue, and approaching it as if it were a law enforcement issue is prejudicial to addicts and will result in their suffering and death
if you just assume addiction is a method of self-medicating, you’ll pretty much never be wrong.
now, not everything people self-medicate for actually has a proper treatment. i’m pretty sure the reason my uncle made sure to be slightly drunk at all times ‘to round the sharp corners off of things’ was sensory processing disorder. i have that too, and i just kind of accept that i’m going to randomly get my brain sandpapered from time to time. there is no medication for that. all you can do is dull your senses. i’ve chosen not to, but i can’t blame him for his decisions. when a ringing phone feels like getting hit upside the head with a frying pan, liver damage sounds like a fair price to pay.
anyway, it seems really self-evident to me that people don’t enjoy living the life of an addict, they do it because the alternative looks worse. people don’t get addicted to substances just for funsies. they start making a habit of taking something because of insomnia, or grief, or headaches, or depression, or seething undirected rage and terror they can’t put a name to – something that they can’t ignore or shrug off. and for whatever reason – lack of access, lack of knowlege, lack of money, or it just plain doesn’t exist – they aren’t able to apply the Approved Correct Remedy. they use what they can get.
addicts aren’t some weird otherfolk who inexplicably just Do Drugs because they’re Bad. addicts are you with a problem you can’t solve.
telling people using substances to just not do that is like when rich people tell poor people that the best way to cope with the cost of living crisis is to just not eat. you’re really just telling them to die.
people are always going to have complicated and difficult problems and needs. that’s just what being human is. if you want people to try to meet those needs in the safest way possible, then they need support for that. whatever those needs may be. and yeah, sometimes there just isn’t an easy answer that exists. acting like that’s a personal moral failing instead of just how life is sometimes doesn’t help anyone. it just creates a society where you’re punished for being human.
The only Indiana Jones reboot I wanna see is one centered on Short Round (now going by his own explorer name) where he’s taken all of what Indiana has taught him to follow in his footsteps.
But one of the main themes of the film would center on the concept of growing past our teachers/parental figures. The film would explore Short Round as he begins to question and criticize the ratio of good/bad his beloved mentor inflicted on indigenous populations by yes ok fighting literal nazis but also effectively robbing them of their own spiritual and historical artifacts to put into museums rather than risking them falling into the “wrong hands”.
By the end of the film, Short Round would shift his focus, deciding to dedicate himself and his future adventures to righting the wrongs of Indy’s past while also aiding indigenous populations and helping them protect themselves from future raiders.
Heck, I’d even tolerate Mutt being in it if it created a sort of Dick and Damian dynamic where Mutt, now aware of the legacy he is a product of is immensely prideful and eager to follow in his father’s footsteps but is inexperienced, having never actually joined Indiana throughout the years to the extent that Short Round did.
Short Round meanwhile would serve as a mentor to mutt, teaching him what he learned from Indy but also nudging the boy to move away from blind hero worship of his father and more towards a critical view of that same legacy, though not lacking in affection for Indiana–just gaining the ability to acknowledge that our parents and heroes are flawed and that there is a need to grow and learn past their influence.
The Eagle Scout, a type of warrior-priest class in American Civil Religion, was expected to defend the empire to their last breath with their credit-card knives and patterned zippos.
before you hate on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skulls, consider this: having fun
a guy gets eaten by ants. Shia LaBeouf tarzan-swings on vines with a pack of monkeys. Indy survives a nuclear bomb and its not plot relevant at all. like what’s not to love here
waaaahhh waaaahhhhh aliens in Indiana Jones it’s not realistic waaaaahhh.
bro God Himself melted people’s faces off in the first movie 😭😭 there’s ALWAYS a supernatural element
I mean also consider. Marian Ravenwood is kind of a milf
ALSO this was before a lot of Shia’s problems started and can I just say watching him do little knife flips and ride a motorcycle was so so important and formative on my preteen brain. truly changed something within me
Transcript: Yesterday my cousin said that my rooster wasn’t a real rooster. He said he’s a Walmart rooster. *chicken noises* Does this not look like a real rooster to you? *chicken makes a sound again* Sure, he’s small, but he has feelings.
important context this person looks and sounds like they’re gonna cry
