Drinking on the Basement Tapes

First off, we know Dylan was self medicating with alcohol for a while and probably had a high tolerance for alcohol, more so than Eric, who winced at the taste and said he really didn’t like drinking.

I wonder if they wanted to look “grown up” so they drank or did they do it to loosen up?

I also wonder how inebriated they were?

I just wonder if they needed it to get more into their personas for their audience..or they wanted to be cool?

I wonder if seeing the tapes would help answer any of your questions. i.e., did Eric just take the one swig described by reporters or were they casually passing the bottle around, drinking throughout the entire sequence?
I think knowing that information might provide a better window for theorizing whether the alcohol was a prop, something they used to help them do what they were doing, or something they actually did use casually and without much thought.

Purely conjecture on my part but if I had to guess I'd think Eric didn't need it and used it as a prop. Another thing to show off to illustrate how much they didn't care about what society deemed proper or not, what their parents thought (look, we've got these bombs, guns, and alcohol right under their noses). Whether Dylan needed it to get revved up for the tapes or whether he was at the point that he depended on it, I don't know. I get the feeling that the appearance of looking cool with it or making a statement with it would have been less important to Dylan. But if I actually understood what either of them thought about anything I'd be a lot closer than I am now to understanding why they did such a horrible thing.

thelmar wrote:

I wonder if seeing the tapes would help answer any of your questions. i.e., did Eric just take the one swig described by reporters or were they casually passing the bottle around, drinking throughout the entire sequence?
I think knowing that information might provide a better window for theorizing whether the alcohol was a prop, something they used to help them do what they were doing, or something they actually did use casually and without much thought.

Purely conjecture on my part but if I had to guess I'd think Eric didn't need it and used it as a prop. Another thing to show off to illustrate how much they didn't care about what society deemed proper or not, what their parents thought (look, we've got these bombs, guns, and alcohol right under their noses). Whether Dylan needed it to get revved up for the tapes or whether he was at the point that he depended on it, I don't know. I get the feeling that the appearance of looking cool with it or making a statement with it would have been less important to Dylan. But if I actually understood what either of them thought about anything I'd be a lot closer than I am now to understanding why they did such a horrible thing.

I agree with what you've said here. In my opinion, I think Dylan had started to form somewhat of a dependency on alcohol. I don't think he needed it to look cool, I think he depended on it. Eric, on the other hand, I think used the alcohol as a prop. I don't think they shared the reasons for drinking it. In my opinion, Dylan got it out first and started drinking. He then either passed it to Eric for a swig or the two began to pass it around throughout the video. As you stated though, we really don't know without seeing the tapes.

If Dylan passed Eric the alcohol while taping, then Eric probably felt he had to drink it to look "manly." As you all said, a prop. I always had the impression that Eric was not into drugs or alcohol that much, while Dylan was very much into drinking, probably to dull his emotions. Gosh, if only we could see the tapes.....