Street Roots • Aug. 7-13, 2015
ADDICTION, from page 10
percent of Canada’s overall population
Canada.
“ mdlgenous people have end^ d across generations in
r e s T d e ^ ofVsnc ’
P° ° r PhysicaI “ d mental health of manV
for i t s h k / l fTCr S Downtown Eastside neighborhood - notorious
tor its high levels of poverty and public
drug use — make them the poster
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children for the antidrug campaign.
B&w ifee i» f o r -,
But he sees something else going on.
the»
they eao put
“If you look at those folks really
pressure ©» tbeir iegisla-
carefully, you can see that many folks
have psychiatric illnesses that are not
k w » Jhid that's my strategy*
being attended to,” he said. “They
to basically educate lelhs, ' '
have a multitude of problems. But it’s
Bolp people to u d e r s i a a f l
just simply easy to say that it’s (their
intersecting social and economic
issues are) because of their drug use.’
Educating people
Hart doesn’t bother to debate his findings with the antidrug crowd.
I have to make sure I don’t engage in conversations with people who
don’t abide by the rules of evidence” is one of his best-known quotes.
The day after his Vancouver talk, Hart said he preferred to talk to people
open to listening.
Once they have the information, then they can put pressure on their
legislators,” he said. “And that’s my strategy, to basically educate folks.
Help people to understand.”
Once they understand, Hart lays out how they can help, from knowing
the science behind his work and engaging in factual debates, to holding
yourself and others accountable for racism.
Perhaps the most difficult ask is coming out as a drug user to help
dispel the myth that only addicts use illegal drugs. While Hart is open
about his drug use, he said that in his case, it helps that he’s proven
himself as an award-winning Columbia University professor.
*For<other) people, when they think aboutcoming out of the closet,
they may have to do. it on a smaller scale, like to friends and relatives,” he
said.
u
Hart acknowledges it isn’t an easy path to tread; he’s lost friends and
research funding due to his views. His book tour has been the main source
of research funding as of late. But these are sacrifices he’s willing to make
to change society’s attitude and policies toward drugs.
“The focus shouldn’t be on whether you are using drugs, but it should
be on your deeds,” Hart told his Vancouver audience before it erupted into
the second standing ovation of Hie night
“I want to make sure people are* good people.”
Courtesy o f IN SP News Service www.street-papers.org/Megaphone,
Vancouver, B.C.
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ARTIST, from page 9
them by because you don’t have a big enough
name to command a huge price, so they’re not
interested.
The people and the books
S.Z.: I just teamed, in talking to you, that you
acted in early Kuchar films. You also edited a
book about the Kuchar brothers, “Reflections from
a Cinematic Cesspool,” with a foreword by John
Waters. Did you know the brothers personally?
Tell me about that time in your life.
M.P.: Actually, I published and edited the
book. Mike and George always lived hand to
mouth. I was making good money at the time
as a freelancer and offered each of them a
$500 advance to write their autobiographies.
George gave me boxes of photos and
memorabilia to pour through. From it, Julie
Lee pulled together their first-ever filmography.
The John Waters thing was funny. George
would say, “You call him,” and I would say, “No,
you call him.” We went round and round until
George finally called and asked Waters if he’d
write the introduction.
Richard Pleuger, a German journalist and
former student of George’s, brought George
and Mike by my studio. We hit it off. George
liked home cooking, and I cooked many a meal
for him and Mike. The first time I cooked, I
made a roast chicken for the three of us. I
should have made a chicken for each of them!
They are big men — 6 feet, 4 inches — and can
eat a lot! Subsequent meals were more
bountiful.
I was in a number of Kuchar productions
and a couple of documentaries. George had a
habit that if he knew someone was depressed
and needed a boost, he would star them in a
video. As a “star,” you get lots of lines, lots of
attention and lots of garish makeup. During
one of my down periods, George, taking full
advantage of my Boston accent, starred me in
“Society Slut.”
The last time I saW George, he told me a
New York gallery was handling his work. When
he told me a watercolor sold for $35,000, we
both burst into laughter - the insanity of it.
S.Z.:
are presumably one of the last living
people to actually remember Elizabeth Short, or
Bette, as you refer to her. Tell me about the
importance o f writing “Childhood Shadows: The
Hidden Story of the Black Dahlia Murder. ”
M.P.: Writing that book was a catharsis. I
went deep into areas that I had avoided
dwelling on. It was emotionally very difficult
Throughout my life, I kept an image of the real
Bette Short deep inside me, protected. I didn’t
care what people said about her; she was my
friend. For years, Elizabeth Short had been so
reviled. In that book, I wanted to bring the real
person back to life.
S.Z.: What would you like to see as Elizabeth
Short's legacy?
M.P.: I would hope that the myth of the
Black Dahlia becomes separate from Elizabeth
Short, the real person, and that victims are
never, never again treated the way she was.
An artist’s ‘balancing act’
S.Z.: You handed me a couple of quotations
from Albert Camus. Can you speak to the
importance of his philosophy that strikes you?
M.P.: Camus speaks of the balancing act
artists must endure to be relevant - between
activism and their creative work. I have been a
longtime community volunteer - very, very
active in political campaigns, antiwar and
environmental causes and often would forgo
my creative work.
Camus’ philosophy served as my guide,
helped me to balance my art and writing with
my desire to work to better human
conditions. Camus believed in “solitary
individuals ... whose deeds and works ... build
for all.”
S.Z.: You have seen the world change in your
lifetime, in so many ways. What do you see for the
future?
M.P.: My large print of the rowers reflects
my guarded optimism - if only we all would
work together to better the world and protect
the environment. My greatest hope is with the
younger generation - so many of them are free
from the prejudices that we had to work to
overcome, and which a significant portion of
my generation never did. I think it is the
liberalism of the young people that is driving
this country. It may be two steps forward and
one step backward, but I think the better
nature of humankind will prevail.