A Question of Believability
I know this may seem a little nit-picky but I was watching the videos here on the site and heard a lot about Vince Gilligan's relentless attention to detail, so I thought I'd bring this up.
I was a meth addict for many years. And every meth addict, that smokes it, knows that good quality meth produces an enormous amount of smoke when you exhale it. I mean huge thick clouds of smoke that seem to bellow from the lungs. It's common knowledge in the meth community that high quality dope does this, whereas the more it's cut, the less it smokes. Good dope also very rarely makes you cough, whereas cut always makes you cough.
So I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it seems to tell a conflicting story when everyone is talking about it being the best product ever cooked up, but when we see people smoking it, it looks as if they just got "woo'ed".
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mikescrocodilesmile - Hi, I will attempt to put a laypersons perspective on this. I appreciate your frame of reference and sounds like you've been there and done that. That being said, this is a TV show and Vince Gilligan and Crew can only do some much. From my angle and I think I speak for a lot of people who have viewed this show. The portrayal of Meth, its production, users and the effects look pretty real. Again you would know, I'm just a Fan of this show. I will say this much for Vince Gilligan and Crew, they have produced a pretty F-ing good show. This is just one man's opinion of course.
Like I said, I was being nit-picky. And yes, having "been there and done that" I would have to say this is one of several things that I think go to the believability of the show. But R.W. you are completely right when you say that Gilligan and Crew produce a "pretty F-ing good show."
I can understand your frustration. The video portrayal of drug use on TV is seldom what drug users remember. But, if it were any more graphic, I could not watch.. Consider that Blue Sky is not a drug anyone has ever used. It is make believe and can behave however it wants to. Also, Meth is a horrible and devastating drug. It depletes the body, rots the teeth and scars the skin. Jesse is a long term user, yet he has no outward appearance of abuse.(WHY?) While all the hoes and pimps are easy to recognize from their symptoms. I do not want anyone to use meth, but perhaps you needed to hold your hit longer, or let a mate inhale what you exhale. (Second Harvest).
I'd say it's a case of "artistic license." If there were massive amounts of smoke, it would interfere with our view of the scene and it might be kind of distracting. If I recall, at the start of the show and during the breaks, where they show the logo and play the little musical signature, there's a lot of smoke - maybe to symbolically make up for the lack of smoke during those scenes in the show, itself.
Hi Mikescrocodilesmile! ......great question for the talk forum!
Not having been in your situation with drugs, I am not much of an expert to answer the question, but my guess is that Vince keeps the drug items and methods of using Meth to a minimum, otherwise it might entice new converts to the drug. I could be wrong on this aspect, but methods are not shown on TV in other shows because it gives the viewer a set of directions how to use it. In this case, I do believe Vince downplays the actual instructions of beginning to use Meth.
mikescrocodilesmile It's always interesting and informative getting the real take on the series' portrayal of drug use from people who've been there.
I know in one interview with Aaron Paul, I think he'd mentioned they had a former user there to confirm all the realities of how meth looks, is used, etc. I would suppose because the special effects/chemistry consultants aren't creating the real thing, but a facsimile or closest to the real thing for their scenes, they wouldn't be able to get the same effect in the exhaling of the smoke effects as you described. Thanks for that great detail, though, from your experiences!