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"Rock
Bottom" presents the complexity of meth use in the lives
of gay men and provides some thought provoking insights on
how we as a community can address this dilemma. The film is
of enormous importance for all of us as we have witnessed
the devastation that can be invoked by the spread of crystal
meth--both on the individual level and on our
community as a whole. Jay Corcoran has once again captured
the true essence of the struggles people face in their lives
and provides us with a glimpse of how we can raise our selves
up from rock bottom.
Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, MS, Associate Dean for Research
& Doctoral Studies, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
ROCK BOTTOM is a powerful film that closely
documents the experiences of seven gay men who use crystal
meth. It gives a frank and honest portrayal of crystal use,
from the the glamorous and exciting highs to devastating the
lows. Viewers are allowed a rare peak into the lives and mental
worlds of these meth users in way never previously captured
on film. The movie provides an in-depth understanding of the
psychological processes underlying meth addiction in these
men, such as poor self-esteem, HIV burnout, internalized homophobia
and intensely conflicted feelings about sex. ROCK BOTTOM is
an invaluable tool in helping the clinician to gain an insightful
understanding of the existing problem.
Steven J. Lee, M.D. Author of Overcoming
“Crystal Meth Addiction: an Essential Guide to Getting
Clean,” Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry,
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Rock Bottom is a useful corrective to the post gay utopia, that coast-living insulated ethos which has pronounced queer liberation over, or at least tired. Almost incidentally, the film reveals areas of the gay male psyche no civil rights legislation can reach, no caress can heal. It is a profoundly moving account of how, even in this age of increasing social and civil acceptance, queer people are still survivors, carrying memories and wounds we either barely know or barely acknowledge. Sometimes relief can be found only in a kind of compensatory damage, new pains to cancel out the old. One of Rock Bottom's great values is a reminder that by the time of coming out, our relation to our sexuality is largely formed. With great struggle, we have by and large made ourselves equal under the law; feeling equal is another matter entirely.
Jonathan D. Katz, Senior Fellow, Smithsonian Museum of American Art, former founding director of the Larry Kramer Initiative for Gay and Lesbian Studies at Yale University, and the Department of Gay and Lesbian Studies at City College of San Francisco, where he became the first tenured Queer Studies professor in the US.
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Rock
Bottom - Gay Men & Meth