A Junkie's Christmas and Pull My Daisy

The two videos we were supposed to watch were both very interesting and I enjoyed watching them. “Pull My Daisy” and “A Junkie’s Christmas” were both similar in that they are both seen in black and white and are both narrated.

    

 The video entitled “A Junkie’s Christmas” goes along with William Burroughs’ short story. I thought that the video was interesting and it did a great job at replaying the short story for everyone to see. It starts off with an old man (who I am assuming is Burroughs) sitting by a burning fireplace reading “A Junkie’s Christmas.” The video then goes line-by-line showcasing the whole story without leaving out a single detail. I really liked how it does not leave out specifics or change things around like a lot of videos do to stories in order to make it more interesting.

The video had a humorous twist to it keeping the viewers entertained for the whole twenty minutes. The fact that puppet-looking animations are used adds to the humor of the video. The facial expressions are a big part of the film. They are a great representation of what a real life junkie’s facials would look like. My favorite part of the video is when the junkie goes to the doctors’ office and his eye pops out while he is shaking his head and showing his spasm to convince the doctor to give him a prescription. The part of the video is humorous and shows just how desperate he is for a fix.

            I also liked the animations shown when he is going through his high. The swirls of lights are exactly what I imagined when I read the story. The video ends with the old man finishing the story and joining his family for Christmas dinner. To me this shows his end with drugs and seeing him with his family and friends showcases how Christmas should really be spent. Though not a normal video, I believe this one did a great job retelling Burroughs’ short story.

The film “Pull My Daisy,” is a short film that illustrates the Beat Generation. It is a short film written and narrated by Jack Kerouac and stars poet Allen Ginsburg and many other Beat men. It is based on an incident in the life of Beats icon Neal Cassady and his wife Carolyn.

 

          “Pull My Daisy” is the film to watch if you want to experience what The Beat Generation really is. The fact that it is completely narrated by Jack Kerouac is a great assurance that you are watching a film completely devoted to and encompasses the beats. It showcases both the negatives and positives of the Beat generation, like the way they treat the women and how they just don’t care about a thing. While the film wasn’t terrible to watch, I do not think that it compares to “A Junkie’s Christmas”. While “Pull My Daisy” shows you exactly what being Beat is, “A Junkie’s Christmas” was much more entertaining and enjoyable to watch.