MovieChat Forums > Go Ask Alice (1973) Discussion > My own Alice Storyt

My own Alice Storyt

posted 20 years ago by macklin-1
13 replies | jump to latest

I saw the movie when it originally premired on ABC. ABout a year later (I was 14) and ran away from home and ended up in North Hollywood. At the Hollywood Free Theatre, I met Wendell, the "good" boyfriend from the movie. They were doing a marketing test for "The Omen" that night. I tried to talk to him but he was very estranged especially since we were the only two left to clean up in the theatre. Later, others (at the theatre) told me he never liked to talk about "Go Ask Alice". Years later I would meet people in the business that would tell me the book and movie were fiction. Very sad. I stayed in Hollywood for a couple of years. I never OD'd and always had or found people who were not only cool but became life long friends. Drugs were a big part of our lives but it never seemed like anyone was addicted to anything. When we were "holding", everyone had a good time. And when you weren't, there were a lot of other things to do. Then of course, we didn't have coke or crack back then (or least we didn't). We did have Speed and quite a few others. I look back on those days as the best part of my life and so do my friends. I'm in my mid-forties now and live in New York. I don't do drugs anymore ... I don't even drink anymore. My point is that drugs have somehow gotten a bad rap. I don't believe it's the drugs ... it's the people. Tragic Drama Queens in seach of plot lines using drugs as a catalyst (or antagonist). I woke up in a park a few times and crashed for a couple weeks in a vacant building but we all looked at it as adventure. When I was 17 (and in community college) we all raised money and got an apartment 8 people ... 3 rooms. No one ever died, No one ever prosituded them selfs (well not with sex anyway). No one got the shakes, no one od'd. We grew up. Alice, her story and her fans seem to be clinging to tragedy in the same way Alice clung to her drugs. Now that's unhealthy.

Macklin Crew

[–] carieb12 20 years ago

i agree with you.
i also believe you have to be smarter than the drug, which some people just aren't. they're the ones who have problems. there is definitely such thing as "responsible drug use".
ps: i'm jealous of your life!! that sounds so fun :)

"oh, here's a pleasant sight: Cirrhosis, the wonder-dog"

[–] macklin-1 20 years ago

One thing I didn't mention. There were times when I had not only had enough, I wanted to continue to test the boundries of my alcohol and/or drug taking. I always had friends there who I trusted and they took care of me many times over. Either convincing me to stop or being there when I landed. It wasn't that I was smarter than the drugs. I had a great support system. Most people that have these kind of addiction problems have no support and are usually suffering from a great deal of emotional stress. That's why I call them Drama Queens in search of a plot. Drugs (and alcohol and even food) are symtoms of other problems. I don't believe additions are a disease. If it were how come people go to NA or CA or some other A and once they get involved and feel the support of a group and friends their "symptoms" stop. They now have the courage to say no. They begin to have the power to stop. So I'll leave you with a finale thought, next time someone needs to talk ... Listen! Be a friend.

Macklin Crew

[–] mds86 19 years ago

although i love this book/movie, it's stories like this that perpetuate the false notion that if you do drugs and enjoy it you WILL become addicted and it WILL ruin your whole life.
thats why i really love some of these "tragic" drug tales, they're almost comedic

[–] maryleep 19 years ago

I pretty much agree with you. I am in my mid 40's and have done tons of drugs and alcohol in my life and have had very few bad effects. It is so crazy to hear of kids smoking a joint and being sent to rehab today-WTF is up with that massive over reaction? People who have problems with drugs or alcohol-have bigger problems and the "abuse" is just a symptom of larger problems.
I remember seeing Alice when it aired originally too. Love the old Movies of the Week. Do you remember another one starring Sally Field called Maybe I Will Come Home in the Spring? She has been a runaway who returns to suburbia and she has a hard time readjusting.David Carradine plays her boyfriend.Tons of flashback-hehe.

[–] chengedmund2000 19 years ago

hi, im writing the screenplay 4 a remake. my email is [email protected]. im from australia; can u give me advice about wat 2 include in the screenplay?

[–] luvreadgirl684 18 years ago

sing it, sister.

[–] Marieke_van_Lith 18 years ago

I do believe you can have good drug experiences.
But the truth is that there are more cases of kids walking away from home not having a great life then kids walking away dying or left homeless and helpless...

This is one story and I'm happy you had a nice time but there are still kids walking around without a future or life because of the drugs.
Don't forget that...

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Charlize Theron --> Monstrously Good!

**--OSCARICE--**

[–] Ines19 18 years ago

And how do you feel about alcohol?

[–] carinemily 18 years ago

I'd say it's not the drugs or alcohol that's screwing them up. Ask yourself this - why do they run away from home in the first place? People don't run away from good situations. Maybe a look at the home life will reveal why so many kids are *beep* up.

--------------------------------
Hurrah for apathy.

[–] macklin-1 17 years ago

Why Do Kids run away, do drugs, drink, disconnect? I'm not a Bill Cosby fan but he said something once that will always stay with me. We don't teach our kids empathy, we don't teach them how to respect others or themselves.

One of the biggest things that happens in a rehab, counseling or intervention is to show the user what they are doing to the people around them. They have no clue and just don't get it.

Experimentation is great and it was what the 60's & 70's was all about but anyone, with a good support system (a parent or a friend) and common sense knows when to pull back and stop.

Alice is completely fictional. She was addicted to drugs for the sack of taking drugs. I was on morphine for 6 months when I had cancer. I stopped cold turkey, went to bed for 3 days and it was over. I was anxious to get on with my life. So called drug addicts are not. They would prefer to escape what is really going on.

To the person who says there are lots of kids on drugs with no life:
What about people addicted to gambling, shopping, cigerettes, sex, bowling, Rocky Horror, make-up, leather? When does it become unhealthy??

I just saw a show on Oprah showing people who get gastric bypass are turning to other addictions for comfort. Personally, I don't like pot but would rather have my kids smoking a joint than playing with guns.

Someone who takes drugs like Alice doesn't want to return to the real world. And they didn't get into why she was taking them. Also, most pills back them weren't that addictive and if they were they just made you sleep. What kind of drugs was she taking? I think I've done just about everything and I didn't recognize any of those drugs.

p.s. Hallucinigenics aren't addictive.

Macklin Crew

[–] joeann_21 17 years ago

I have seen kids from good families get messed up, so I do not believe it is always the home life.

Growing up I have seen numerous acquaintances almost or lose their lives to drugs. I believe they thought they had a handle on their drug use and were doing it for the sake of partying, but it just got way out of hand and then they had a true "monkey on their back".

[–] butterfly01131983 17 years ago

You know what makes me sick about hearing all you sob's talking bout you never got addicted or nothing ever bad happened to you because you did drugs? It's the fact that you are obviously NOT a drug addict or u have never been depressed cause yea there are a few of you who can do drugs and alcohol without it ruining some aspect of your life, but guess what that is far few and between. Because I know from personal experience just what that *beep* can do to a persons life. I used to be the "model" citizen. I went to work, i payed my taxes, i loved my family, i found someone i wanted to spend the rest of my life with. And then I found my killer, cocaine. I started using that *beep* and everything changed in a matter of minutes, or so it seemed. It was really only 4 months, but it seemed to happen almost instantly. I don't use coke anymore but I do still have one major weakness, alcohol, cause sometimes it's the only thing that helps me sleep at night cause i lost everything. I lost the love of my life, my best friend, and other friends besides her, i lost my good credit, i lost my car, i lost my job, i lost my pride and the respect of all my family members... so before you go and make it seem like drug addiction isn't a real thing because your life was never affected by it, think about the true addicts and people who have lost everything because they forgot for a minute how important those things were in their lives and they wish to god they could get that minute or day or person back but the damage has already been done, so now they are stuck with the *beep* life they made for themselves. So, I'm so glad that drugs worked in your favor cause in the real world they r a life ruiner. And for the people who think otherwise, or can "control" their drug intake without it making a big impact on their lives, well more power to ya!! But for the people who have suffered cause that *beep* has taken away their lives and they finally realize they r never going to get it back, no matter what they do, well it almost makes u want to give up. So, anyway, I don't care who u are but to the people who actually know that drugs ruin lives, i get it. And I will probalby suffer the consequences for the rest of my life!!

[–] mkayboi-1 15 years ago

Butterfly, thank you for sharing your story. I'm sure others out there can relate.

The other people on this board who've shared their positive experiences of drug use should not be lambasted, however. It is their story. I, too, have had many positive experiences with drugs, just as I have had negative ones. It's the question of whether or not an individual can do drugs recreationally and/or for a limited amount of time without getting addicted that is a difficult question.

But like I've told my eleven-year-old niece, You can go through this entire life, not have one drop of alcohol or ever take any drugs, and still be completely happy.

"First you ask if you can be red, knowing that I'm always red."