Darren Aronofsky's Meth Project PSAs: 'Deep End,' 'ER,' 'Desperate' And 'Losing Control' (VIDEO) (NSFW)

In why didn't this happen before news, a nationwide task-force called the Meth Project recently commissioned Darren Aronofsky to direct four PSAs for their anti-meth campaign. The umbrella group hired the director to adopt their M.O. of "hard-hitting and graphic portrayals," which is like asking Michael Bay to please shoot helicopters flying at sunset.

We've got all four, relatively NSFW vids (for scariness, more than anything) below. If you can't bring yourself to grit your teeth and watch them now, just wait. Somehow, they'll all apparently show on TV. Considering one involves gay sex, this is bound to be a real humdinger for the anti-gay, anti-drug warriors at the Parent's Television Council.

WATCH 'ER':

ER from Organic Inc. on Vimeo.

WATCH 'Deep End':

Deep End from Organic Inc. on Vimeo.

WATCH "Losing Control":

The Meth Project "Losing Control" (Dir. Darren Aronofsky) from :: Fred Abercrombie on Vimeo.

WATCH "Desperate":

Desperate from Organic Inc. on Vimeo.

(via mediabistro)

Comments

[Zarz]

07:25 PM on 11/13/2011

In Canada we've had lots of anti meth ads the past few years, some very good, others not so good. I am highly disappointed with recent ads here, however, as they abandoned the realistic portrayal that worked, and moved back to "kid tries a joint at a party, followed by spiraling out of control into severe drug addiction", complete will all the stereotypical imagery. I think the last ad is the best, even if it is abit cheesy, although I know some people will jump all over it for the gay aspect, not the aspect that is supposed to be relayed, prostitution for drug money.

[NINA B]

02:34 AM on 11/11/2011

The girls are too pretty. Especially the first girl. And to see her throw her head of shiny, clean healthy hair around just doesn't give the right gross out effect. Use real people and do some updated faces of meth. Put out closeups of the rotting teeth and maybe of some infected speed bumps on a meth heads face. If those don't take an effect on you, then I don't know, maybe you were just born to do meth.

[flowereater]

02:05 AM on 11/10/2011

Whatever. Having known lots of meth heads in the recording studio culture of San Francisco in the late 80's, these seem very contrived.

[teenage fanclub]

09:55 AM on 11/13/2011

What are those meth heads up to now?

Had 3 friends who got into meth; one reformed and became a born again lives with her parents in her forties, another became a heroin addict and still is after 5 rehabs, another OD'd at the age of 29. Seeing their decline and hearing their stories these PSA's are surprisingly accurate.

[JMK62]

08:21 PM on 11/09/2011

Not hard hitting enough. You want to scare the h$ll out of someone--have them look at Faces of Meth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT9sUA82KHc

[Litho-stone]

04:35 PM on 11/09/2011

The 'Deep End' one I thought was the best, mainly because I have seen former friends whose faces (and personalities) deteriorate almost that quickly (except the ad should have had the teeth turning brown and falling out).

[AchuBlessU]

04:08 PM on 11/09/2011

Amazing

[Joel Schwartzberg]

03:43 PM on 11/09/2011

Acting: A to B- Girls seem mostly real, brother-boys seem like soap-opera acting. The pedophile thing just seemed cheesy SVU-land stuff.

Directing: A+ for Aronofsky

Writing: D. The top "If I'd asked..." is good, but the rest is too hard to understand given all the distracting visuals. The text needed to have been short and tight, like "This is your brain on drugs." I watched over and over and I couldn't really decipher the point easily, and the girl ones I could barely make out audibly as well. And, really, would asking in advance have saved these kids?

The visual of the normal looking kid, then later revealing the setting, is strong enough to work without dialogue. The thick, isn't-this-clever dialogue just gets in its way.

I would have just written:

"Boy, meet Meth." Then, as the narrative evolves into horror, "Meth, destroy boy."

[Rogelio Lopez]

03:11 PM on 11/09/2011

They could have just shown a picture of Lindsay Lohan

[tyrant510]

01:40 PM on 11/09/2011

wow. very well done. it's amazing they will show on tv.

[matt spedale]

12:35 PM on 11/09/2011

Uhh that last one I think gets the point across the best. Im good on that stuff.

[theaustralian]

11:31 AM on 11/09/2011

Legalise Meth so the Republican candidates dont have to meet in bathroom stalls anymore.

[kinogod]

01:31 PM on 11/09/2011

Lol and crying at the same time

[Daigham]

11:11 AM on 11/09/2011

Very powerful depictions of possibilities if one were to go down the meth insanity hwy. Kids (teenagers specifically) are at the highest risk, especially when there are key elements (love, understanding, discipline, trust, knowledge, support) missing from their lives. Sometimes they have what they need and still end up making enormous mistakes, remember that a human's brain is still not fully developed until they reach their twenties and while this does not exonerate their actions or negate their responsibility it should be quite evident to the adults (the real one's) that they are not going to make the best decisions which is why they need our help. "It Takes a Whole Village to Raise a Child" which is still true to this day, we have to start looking out for one another to ensure that the next generation behind us will be equipped to do the same for the generation behind them....united we stand, divided we fall so the question is what will you choose?

[Riem]

10:47 AM on 11/09/2011

I don't think these ads are that brilliant and the cheesy Hollywood acting doesn't help. The best and most effective campaign I've EVER seen with regards to the meth epidemic is the Faces of Meth campaign. Talk about REAL and POWERFUL.

[Giz]

10:29 AM on 11/09/2011

We can only but try. This will work on some kids/people and they will chose the right path. And honestly, perhaps I'm now inured to graphic TV, I don't think they were that over the line. Watch an episode of Law & Order SVU you'll see worse.

[Timothy Ven]

10:16 AM on 11/09/2011

While I applaud the effort behind these, and the message they are trying to send, most kids are not going to give these a second thought. Allow me to explain before you jump please.

The biggest thing that will make these not impact kids is they see their friends every day that do drugs like meth, extasy and the like, and not a single one will be acting like these PSAs portray. What they WILL see is their friends going out and partying and having a good time getting high.

Another thing that will cause them to not make the impact hoped for. Kids are at the age where they think they are invincible. It won't happen to them. They can handle it.

Kids today aren't any different than we were at that age. We had the same thoughts and feelings. We were convinced we too were invincible. We never thought about the long term effects of what we did. The future didn't exist in our minds any more than it does in the minds of kids today, because it was so far off. How many of us thought twenty, thirty, forty years ahead? I hazard to say very few of us. Therein lies the problem with drugs. They are the here and now. Not some phantasmal future

[Daigham]

11:28 AM on 11/09/2011

Couldn't agree with you more, which is why I believe it to be crucial that more parents, family, neighbors, etc get involved with their kids. Out of the 17 cousin's in my family 2 have passed, 3 have been incarcerated, 1 was an addict and the 9 are unhappy with their personal situation and two of us (myself included) have made something of ourselves and started our own families. The statistics are bleak at best but the majority of us were raised by single mothers who struggled to provide the bare necessities of what one needs to become a contributing law abiding member of society. We need more participation from our communities for each generation that follows so we can trust that our children make the right decisions (not saying they always will) when the time comes. Children (teenagers specifically) do not possess the foresight to see the effects of their actions for next week let alone five, ten or fifteen years down the line, which is why they drastically need our help regardless of whether they accept it or not. Remember their still kids and they have a lot of growing to do before they will be able to do what we can and should do for them for someone else.