This one’s not something fun to watch while high. Rather, the subject matter is highness, and in this case, done in a thoughtful and subversively funny way. Louis C.K. has spoken of it matter-of-factly in public on multiple occasions, including his stand-up act, and has demonstrated that he is very familiar with the experience of being high through his writing on the show “Louie.” Here’s one example: Season 1, Episode 8 called “Dogpound.”
The episode begins with Louie dropping off his two young girls with their mother for the week. Instead of going into a “spiral of awfulness” from being alone and sitting around “like a bag of shit” like always, he is determined to be productive that week.
His first pitfall is being presented with a case of Häagen-Dazs at the convenience store. After a frustrated deliberation, he buys the ice cream and hustles home hard to eat it.
Though we never see him smoking pot, his character is acting in the manner of someone who had, with that ravenous mad intent that occurs when you’re high and amazing food is imminent.
As Louie tears into the ice cream, we get close-ups of him moaning with each spoonful. “Huuuuuhhhhh!” he wails, with ice cream in his beard. Later, the camera pans post-bender to show empty ice cream cartons and half-eaten pizzas and Louie passed out, precisely what one would expect after a huge weed bender.
After a pep talk from his brother, Louie recommits himself to getting off his ass. He finds his jump rope, takes one failed attempt before being interrupted by the smell of somebody smoking weed. What happens next is an amazing scene in which Louie goes next door to confront his neighbor but ends up going in and smoking his brains out. How C.K. the writer/director recreates the experience of being high is spot-on and amazing and must be seen to be appreciated.
His character, having not smoked pot in a long time, takes bong rip after bong rip, and things start to get weird: The dog on the chair is now a different dog on the chair, which is followed by a confusing, circular, nonsensical conversation people only have when high, followed by more trippy and unreal bizarreness, aided by jumpy cuts and odd angles.
And if he didn’t capture that experience well enough, he outdoes himself in the following scene, portraying what it’s like being in public when you’re massively hung over.
DGO Staff
