GO ASK ALICE

US, 1973, 74 minutes, Colour.
William Shatner, Julie Adams, Andy Griffith.
Directed by John Korty.

Go Ask Alice is based on a well known book about a teenager's drug addiction and her sad fate. Translated into a telling telemovie, a strong impact for home audiences, this film was very popular in the early seventies. It was directed crisply by John Korty who has made such interesting films as River Run and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman. There were many telemovies taking social themes in the seventies and this was a fore-runner.

1. Was this a successful documentary film? Did it make its message convincing? Is this kind of film important for television family viewing? Why?

2. Did the film make its characters and situations real? How credible for the average audience were they?

3. The success of Alice as the central character: as a typical teenage girl, her relationship with her family, her parents, her brother, her loneliness and her reasons for it, her loneliness at school and her performance at school?

4. Did the film's message come across especially because of the setting the ordinary American family, the ordinary American home, the ordinary American school?

5. The impact on Alice of her friendship with Beth? How did they become friends? Why didn't Alice follow this up?

6. The influence of Alice’s mother on her? Did she understand her? How could she have helped her more? The influence and impact of her father on Alice? His avoiding of the situation and refusal to face reality? Alice's relationship to her brother? Did this help her?

7. The significance of the holidays and the party? Why did Alice go? Her relationship with Richard? Was it possible for her to have foreseen what would happen? Why?

8. Why did she take the drugs? Why wasn't she more cautious? Was it merely because of companionship? Experimentation? Thrills? Being dared?

9. Why were her parents so blind to the reality of her taking drugs? refusing to face this? What more could they have done, should they have done?

10. Comment on Alice's changing character as she took more drugs and went to more parties? The impact of her selling drugs to the boy? (And the horrible significance of this sequence?) Her change in relationship to Beth? How hurting for both was this? Her deciding to go away? Why did she leave home? Was she a weak character?

11. Was her rehabilitation by the Minister credible? How did he influence her? The Minister in himself as a person?

12. How did he effect her return? Why did she return?

13. The importance of her relationship with Joel? What kind of young man was he? What good effects did he have on her?

14. How ironic and sad was her being tricked into taking drugs again?

15. The sequences in the hospital? What did they reveal to Alice about herself? What did they reveal to her parents? Joel’s actions in these circumstances? Was it possible that she would have recovered and led a happy life? Why?

16. Was her death handled well dramatically in the film? What impact did her death make?

17. The publication of her story and her diary? And the making of this film? Why was the film made? What impact did it have on you as regards drugs? What impact do you think it would make on young people? Why?