Day 8, Fri March 18 Film #22 Orange Sunshine “The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less sure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the unfathomable mystery which it tries, forever vainly, to comprehend" The film begins with the premise offered by the above quote by Aldous Huxley, in The Doors of Perception Okay, wow, I mm just blown away by this film: I thought it would be about surfing but it was about LSD and spiritual growth through the use of it, those that wanted to share that path of introspection and self-evolution in the 60s and 70s, and the group of surfers who became the largest purveyors of LSD and hashish in the US during that time, known as The Brotherhood of Eternal Love. And that's exactly what they wanted to spread: Love. They thought LSD should be free so that all could experience this mode of spiritual insight, weren't out to make money, gave away a lot of LSD, and just made enough profit to manufacture more LSD and import more hash. After the screening, I spoke with the Director and also the "stars" of this documentary who were founding members of The Brotherhood, who are an amazing couple in their 60s who still "turn on" with LSD and promote its use to attain spiritual enlightenment! The doc was their story and the story of other members who ended up forming a family commune outside Laguna Beach, CA, and we're very family-oriented and are still all very close friends. Their 5 kids were at the screening as well, to show support. Lovely family. There were bits about Timothy Leary, Ram Das, the Weatherman Underground, and the lawyer who defended all of them. I had no idea that Mr. Leary was sentenced to 30 YEARS IN PRISON when caught with 2 roach ends. He was basically a political prisoner in his own country for his political views and pro-drug stance. It's hard to believe that happened in America. It's equally hard to believe that drugs are still illegal, which creates all the crime and black market, and questionable quality, along with lining the pockets of many and increasing an unnecessary military and police presence in our country. Arrests for pot put people in jail for years and it's ridiculous. I don't do drugs, but I definitely support decriminalization of all drugs and more freedom from government intervention in people's personal lives! It's ridiculous that we fill our prisons with non-violent criminals, give them records, which increases joblessness, and the war on drugs definitely is a racially-biased war, sided against blacks, who. Reap the rewards of this war with increased poverty, joblessness, and the inability to vote--which I know Republicans love. Standing around after the film talking with various people and those in the film, I had a serendipitous meeting and made a new friend as well! Whee!
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