'Trainspotting' is a film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, which bears the same title. The film is set in Edinburgh, Scotland, and focuses on a group of heroin addicts during a time when Scotland was experiencing an economic depression. The film follows the lives of these heroin addicts. These heroin addicts are as follows: Renton, Spud, Sick Bo, Tommy and Begbie, the protagonist is Renton. For this essay I will discuss the theme of personal identity in the film "Trainspotting", this is a very significant theme throughout the film as each character struggles with their personal identity in significant ways. They let heroin addiction take over their identity, which makes it difficult for them to find themselves, which leads them to a passive way of living their life. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Trainspotting is a great example of cinematic realism as it depicts the reality of heroin addiction and how difficult it is for people to find motivation when they are in the state, while also struggling with a society going through an economic depression, “It indicates the existence of certain discourse groups and refers to the status of discourse within a society and culture”. This leads the group of heroin addicts to live an apathetic lifestyle: heroin gives them little motivation to carry out beneficial activities, which forces them into a routine in society, making them question their personal identity. Being Scottish is part of their personal identity, each character in the novel struggles to find any valuable factors of being Scottish that make them feel again as if their personal identity is somehow worthless as the Scottish nation proves worthless and useless, especially under British rule. They all go through a period in the film where they try to give up heroin or at least try to stay away from it, it proves harder than expected, leaving most of the characters to give in to their addiction while letting their identities be taken over again. ended due to addiction. The film represents a Scottish subculture, which is not often talked about, people who are drug addicts, who thrive on stealing and being a bad person, the heroin addicts in this film are part of this subculture. The subculture in which "their universe achieves a meaning that comes from this subculture created through drugs, music and a shared sense of helplessness", is evident in each character's identity. Renton, the protagonist of Trainspotting, at the beginning of the film, portrays to the viewers how he chose this path in life, representing his own identity, the opening speech, reflects what Renton's character was. He portrays himself as a man who knows what he wants in life and who has confidence in himself, but in reality he is affected by heroin addiction and lives a passive life, which leads him down a destructive path. The film follows Renton as he tries to give up heroin while also trying to stop being influenced by his group of toxic friends, the fact that the film is narrated by Renton, shows the distance between him and his group of friends. In the opening scene with Renton's narration, “I chose not to choose life, I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons, who needs reasons when you have heroin?” The opening sequence and narration depicts how much Renton's identity is absorbed by the heroine, he considers the heroine a necessity in his life, and works his life around the heroine. One of the most degrading scenes in the film is “The Worstbathroom of Scotland", which shows the real side of how desperate people can get when it comes to getting high. This scene shows how much addiction has taken over Renton, he ends up going into a bathroom covered in feces to recover the drugs he has lost, this scene shows the harsh reality of what addiction can do to a person, desperation overcomes disgust, just as the heroine overcomes addiction. Anton has no respect for himself or his identity during this scene, as he takes part in disgusting actions without thinking about the repercussions. This scene alone resonates with viewers in that it shows the desperate measures that addicts will take to achieve their success,' Renton's panting surface during his immersion, extraction. of himself from the toilet and its contents (in which he finds himself both literally and metaphorically covered) gradually brings the audience back to the social realism that the scene has triumphantly left behind". This scene shows how heroin is still a part of Renton's identity even though he is currently off drugs. Danny Boyle, the film's director, wanted to provide a realistic portrayal of drug taking and how it affects a person, “There's half the film that's obviously considerably darker. If you prolong the experience with drugs, your life will darken. The film doesn't try to hide it, but it doesn't try to get in the way of moral consensus either." Drugs seem to take over the identity of the characters in this film, it is the first thing they think about, in every situation, one of the harsh realities of addiction becomes clear in the scene where little Dawn is found dead, in this scene Renton is narrating again, they don't know the cause of the children's death or how long she has been dead, this is a heartbreaking scene that stems from neglect due to their heroin addiction: "She could have been screaming for a week, for all I knew I know." I knew. I heard someone talking, although surely someone must have said something in all that time, surely to fuck someone you have to have it." This is the culmination of their heroin addiction, it is clearly the biggest priority in their life, after Allison witnesses Renton "cooking", her mind shifts from her dead child back to heroin. After this scene, the characters begin to change and focus more on other activities rather than heroin, such as little Dawn due to abandonment due to heroin addiction. Renton himself makes a leap in the right direction, deciding to act decisively, it is difficult, but he does it in order to regain his identity, which in recent years has been taken over by his heroine. dependence. Being Scottish is also an important part of the character's personal identity, it influences their actions and beliefs, even though they have no respect for being Scottish, they find it degrading and are in a state of dissatisfaction with their identity. Scotland. Tommy takes Spud, Sick Boy and Renton to the Highlands, where he expresses how proud he is to be Scottish, Renton as a whole completely disagrees with the statement. Renton expresses his disgust that his identity is tied to Scotland: “It's shit being Scottish! We are the last of the last. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most miserable, servile, pathetic rubbish that has ever been shit out in civilization.” This is a clear identification of how Scottish society saw themselves at the time, being Scottish is part of their identity, making them feel dissatisfied with their personal identity, and the fact that the rest of the boys don't speak after Renton's speech the speech shows that I agree. They use heroin as a way to distract themselves from the unfair and disordered society of. (2019).