”Until that movie I took my drugs after work and on the
weekends. That changed on Less Than Zero. The role was like the ghost of
Christmas Future. I became an exaggeration of the character.” - Robert Downey Jr.
“Former troubled actor Robert Downey, Jr., 43, blames his
role in 1980s cult film Less Than Zero for fueling his drug addiction. He claims he only took drugs recreationally
before he was cast as a cocaine addict in the film. Soon after completing the
movie, Downey Jr’s substance abuse worsened and he was jailed at California Substance
Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran for a year for missing
mandatory court-imposed drug tests.”
The 1980’s have always had a reputation for being an era
filled with drugs, sex and rock and roll, and many films made about that time
period highlight the issues it can cause. Robert Downey Jr. was making a name
for himself in the acting world during the era of the ‘Blank Generation’ and truly
embodied the stereotypical lifestyle that accompanied this term. Like many
other wealthy white Americans during this time he regularly used drugs, however,
his involvement with the film adaptation of the novel “Less Than Zero” caused
his drug use to spiral out of control and affect both his personal life and
career. This is a prime example of an individual in the 1980’s that became addicted
to drugs and lost out on a lot of potential career opportunities and was not taken very seriously
because of his obnoxious addiction. The effects of the 1980’s for Downey Jr.
still exist today and his past will haunt him, like it will do for many others
who became so engrossed with the 1980’s lifestyle that it totally consumed
them.
The novel by Bret Easton Ellis is highly regarded in the “Blank
Fiction” genre.
“Powerful portrait of a lost generation who have experienced
sex, drugs, and disaffection at too early an age, in a world shaped by casual
nihilism, passivity, and too much money a place devoid of feeling or hope. Clay comes home for Christmas vacation from
his Eastern college and re-enters a landscape of limitless privilege and
absolute moral entropy, where everyone drives Porches, dines at Spago, and
snorts mountains of cocaine. He tries to renew feelings for his girlfriend,
Blair, and for his best friend from high school, Julian, who is careering into
hustling and heroin. Clay's holiday turns into a dizzying spiral of desperation
that takes him through the relentless parties in glitzy mansions, seedy bars,
and underground rock clubs and also into the seamy world of L.A. after dark.”
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