hunter s thompson fear and loathing movie

“Thompson died by suicide at the age of 67, following a series of health problems.

He often remarked: “I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” He was also known for his lifelong use of alcohol and illegal narcotics, his love of firearms, and his iconoclastic contempt for authority. “Thompson’s output declined from the mid-1970s, as he struggled with the consequences of fame, and complained that he could no longer merely report on events, as he was too easily recognized. Finding it difficult to talk in the racially tense atmosphere of Los Angeles, Thompson and Acosta decided to travel to Las Vegas, and take advantage of an assignment by Sports Illustrated to write a 250-word photograph caption on the Mint 400 motorcycle race held there. One of Thompson’s sources for the story was Oscar Zeta Acosta, a prominent Mexican-American activist and attorney. Salazar had been shot in the head at close range with a tear-gas canister fired by officers of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department during the National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War. The book for which Thompson gained most of his fame had its genesis during the research for “Strange Rumblings in Aztlan”, an exposé for Rolling Stone on the 1970 killing of the Mexican-American television journalist Rubén Salazar. In this book, he tells us of a week he spent in Las Vegas with Acosta while they were both on a cocktail of drugs. He calls himself Roahl Duke and Acosta is referred to as “my attorney” or Dr. Even though it is about him and his attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta, he doesn’t use his real name, and makes his character seem more like a kind of alter ego. Thompson was a journalist, who started what he coined “gonzo journalism”, which means he mixes fact with fiction. You see it referenced throughout pop culture-in music and music videos, in other movies, in cartoons, in artwork, and you see his quotes posted all over the place. There is no denying the impact Thompson and this book/movie in particular have had on society. I no longer have much interest in him, so this made for an interesting reading and watching experience. I used to love this book and movie, and in general found Hunter S.

I have also seen the movie multiple times, but the last time I watched it was in 2013 so it’s been a while. I have read this book before, but it was about ten years ago now. Thompson (1972)įear and Loathing in Las Vegas directed by Terry Gilliam (1998)

You can read the blog, or you can click on one of the icons below to listen to the podcast version! Click HERE for more listening options! **Warning: Spoilers for both book and movie!**įear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S.

Hunter s thompson fear and loathing movie