‘Self Medicated’ Theatrical Review

Self Medicated is an examination of the Antagonist Movement from the inside. If you aren’t familiar with the Antagonist Movement it’s a community of non-commercial artists who support and encourage one another. Most of the works highlighted in the film are public pieces which reflect the culture of the area.

Part documentary and part recruitment video, the film explores the lives of some of its members and delves into what drives them to do art. What really surprised me were some of the similarities in the stories.

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Many of them grew up in small towns and it was their struggles with being different and not fitting in that drove them to find a release though their art. In some cases it even drew them together and helped them to create a subculture outside the confines of the judgmental society.

My favorite quote comes toward the beginning of the film from a punk rocker talking about the small town that he’s lived in his whole life: “Out of that cookie cutter fabric, if you keep making cookies and shoving that [expletive] mold down there, you’re going to have all of this excess crap left over. We’re the excess crap, and I love it. I love being the excess crap, because that’s the first thing that gets eaten by the cook.”

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Not all of the stories are about finding their place in a world that has no place for them. Some of them are about loss or fear or anger. The one thing that connects them all is art. Not as an escape from their lives, but as an expression of who they are. Many of the artists in the film still have jobs away from their art, but it is 100% just to pay the bills and fund their passion.

The majority of their projects are self-funded and end up as a financial loss, but that isn’t why they do it. They aren’t out there creating and performing for financial gain or notoriety. They are doing it for a sense of release and community. Many of the artists speak to the times between projects and how they feel angsty and lost. Often their depression will return. Art is truly a drug for these people.

The film itself is fairly good. It feels a little slow at times and the ending could use a call to action or something that it can build towards. It’s more of a video yearbook of artists in the Antagonist Movement.

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That being said, the stories are fascinating and real and very personal. The filmmakers did a great job of capturing the emotion and letting the stories linger. It is also easy to see the amount of time put into setting up the shots showing the creating of some of these pieces. The camera was very well used and the film is quite obviously a labor of love.

Overall I enjoyed the film and it definitely piqued my interest in the Antagonist Movement. You can read more about them including their mission statement and artist biographies at their website www.anagovision.com. They also have other videos made by artists in the movement and an archive of their fanzines.

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