MTV (symbol)
MTV is a symbol of an epoch, whose influence could hardly be overestimated. Fashion, music, beauty, and endless parties captivate mind and make viewers believe that this glamorous life is a real one. It seems that the characters of the story are dependent on this channel. Drinking, smoking, taking drugs and “watching MTV”, they live fast and some of them die young. The youth of the 1980s and MTV become inseparable. Unlike ideal images of a careless life on MTV, the lives of characters of the story look like tragedies or horror films.
Cocaine (symbol)
As a symbol of a careless life, cocaine is escapism for Clay and his friends. At least that is how they see it. Whenever they are bored, sad or depressed, they use cocaine as a way to escape. Of course, it doesn’t solve their problems; more often than not, it creates even more difficulties than they already have. Their dealers sell them a certain substitute for things they need most. Even “coming off coke, sneezing blood” and dealing with an absorbing feeling of utter indifference, they don’t forget about “a gram” which can present them with several moments of bizarre bliss.
A party (motif)
The story is full of parties; frequently, it seems that the characters of the story throw those parties just because they can and not because they want to meet their friends or have fun. It is a certain obligation. Some of them “haven’t even been home” for four days. Who cares? There is always another party to go. The characters often complain that they are “so sick of dealing with people”, but still they continue attending clubs. The reasons which make them do what they don’t really want are different. As Clay once mentions, when it’s dark and crowded, “nobody can see that my face is all swollen and my eyes are red”.
