Like Mario the plumber in Nintendo’s video games, more and more people are swallowing magic mushrooms, preferably in microdose capsules because it’s fancier and less rustic, but also in the traditional way, by chewing gummy pieces that taste like hell.
Published at 7:30 p.m.
Good old “porridge,” an illegal substance that causes hallucinations and visual distortions, even appears on several of our favorite Quebec television series, with side effects that oscillate between murderous poison madness and uncontrollable exhilaration for four hours.
On Tuesday night, TVA’s Indefensible aired the most surreal – and burlesque – scene in which a person ingested magic mushrooms for fun. So the elegant Élodie (Mirianne Brûlé) invited her daughter-in-law Tania (Guinièvre Sandré) to celebrate her return to the country after a three-month trip to Thailand.
Cheeky, the two young women drank two bottles of cheap champagne in two hours. Then cheeky Élodie pulled out a Ziploc that contained the famous porridge. “There’s nothing there, don’t worry, it’s good broth,” Élodie pleaded to her anxious friend Tania, who had never eaten it before.
Amount of drug taken by each of the girls: one gram. After the initial euphoria, Tania began to lose the card. Firmly. She heard voices, felt threatened and, oh man, spun the worst cotton.
Disconnected from reality, Tania grabbed a saber hanging on the wall and delivered a vicious blow to her tanned friend (poor Selina!) right in the face before fleeing into the street with the bloody weapon.
Honestly, this jaw-dropping scene from the daily Indefensible has certainly frightened a generation of parents who imagine that their child will end up straight in Pinel if they swallow a sprig of porridge.
In contrast, the Radio Canada series Before the Crash favored a gentle approach to taking magic mushrooms, i.e. consumption in small amounts, microdosing. These capsules improved the quality of life of friendly Patrick (Mani Soleymanlou), saving his marriage and his job as an investment banker.
In the fifth episode of the excellent comedy Inhale, Exhale from the Crave platform, all the participants of the yoga retreat unknowingly drink an herbal tea infused with magic mushrooms, which causes collective delirium, dizziness and facial numbness, yes, but not ninja attacks. Thank God.
Radio-Canada’s STAT series also had its psychedelic moment in March, when Emmanuelle (Suzanne Clément), Philippe (Patrick Labbé), Isabelle (Geneviève Schmidt) and Éric (Stéphane Rousseau) experienced a major pulp trip without any problems.
Confession, here: Yes, I’ve taken porridge before, in microdoses and in portions (it’s gross). I didn’t become demented, at least not yet, nor did I end up in the crack alley in downtown Montreal with a needle in my arm. It must be said that I went “sparingly” there, to quote Rebecca in OD.
But I understand the problem: does showing characters on TV high on magic mushrooms constitute condoning or encouraging the act?
Even cannabis, despite being legal in Quebec, still elicits reactions from outraged onlookers.
It happened recently when Emmanuelle and Éric shared a joint at STAT while finishing their shift at Saint-Vincent Hospital. A lot of you were freaked out: What, doctors who smoke weed? Unacceptable!
Breaking News: Yes, doctors may indulge in products purchased at SQDC.
So how can we talk about porridge on TV without playing the moralizing priest or the cool 1970s Baba survivor? You must be honest and transparent.
“The challenge with all these representations is to avoid extremes, and that is complex because there are extremes. We must be sensitive so as not to reinforce certain stereotypes, nor should we trivialize drug use,” explains Jean-Sébastien Fallu, addiction specialist and professor at the School of Psychoeducation at the University of Montreal.
If I trust the messages you write to me, cigarettes shock you more than cannabis, magic mushrooms or even cocaine.
Isabelle (Karine Gonthier-Hyndman) from Before the Crash sniffing a stick of powder as long as her forearm? Radio silence. Sophie (Sonia Cordeau) from Inhale, Exhale lights a cigarette in her tank? You stay on the ceiling.
Put down the sabers and swords, it’s enough to cause psychosis.
I’m floating
With “Great, thank you very much,” by Monica Heisey
Looking for the new Bridget Jones? There she is. Her name is Maggie, she is 28 years old, lives in Toronto and is currently going through… her first divorce. As an (unmotivated) research assistant at a university, Maggie has run out of money and lives off burgers she orders from Uber Eats at 4 a.m. This novel is not as funny as Helen Fielding’s, but is more realistic and contemporary. The always-on millennial heroine isn’t 100% likable, she’s messy, whining, selfish, and in the end we accept (and love) her for all her flaws – and her Tinder dates are disastrous.
I avoid it
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
The first snow in Montreal, Rue de la Commune
Snow in November
That is no. Denied. We’re going to have to live with this white crap for six months. Could we at least have a break until Christmas? There’s nothing magical about waking up and seeing ice on the steps and slush on the sidewalks still littered with old, rotten, dead leaves. Yuck.