Jul 15, 2012 22:29
12 yrs ago
English term

traffic beauty

English Social Sciences Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
What does the 'traffic beauty' mean in the folllowing context?


Some heroin users, particularly postadolescents, are attracted to unconventional
media images that romanticize the “traffic beauty” of heroin users.

Many thanks!

Discussion

Jim Tucker (X) Jul 16, 2012:
+1 no question about it
Jenni Lukac (X) Jul 16, 2012:
I think Lorena may be right. I suggest querying the client.
lorenab23 Jul 15, 2012:
boy that really seems weird Any chance it could be tragic beauty? Maybe an OCR issue?

The “tragic beauty” title is taken from an interview with one young heroin user; it is a fitting depiction of many other participants’ fatalistic and sometimes romanticized attitudes toward heroin use and its consequences. More than merely a fashionable appearance, the concept of “tragic beauties” conveys young heroin users’ notions of living artistic, rebellious lifestyles.
http://michelineludwick.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/tragic-beau...

Responses

+1
40 mins

street aesthetic

If this isn't an OCR error, I think it is a slang term referring to that which is considered beautiful by those involved with drug trafficking. The quotation marks would indicate that it is nonstandard usage, even for slang.

For traffic as related to drug sales, see definition 2 here:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Traffic
Peer comment(s):

agree Doroteja
46 days
Thanks!
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49 mins

beautiful life of drug traffikers

I think the author is referring to the so-called beautiful-glamorous life of the top drug trafficers. It may be a direct reference to the 2000 film Traffic.

A drug trafficing family is portrayed and rich and beautiful in the 2000 family "Traffic" and the female star (wife of the drug trafficer) has been referred to as the Traffic beauty.

"Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones took their children Carys and Dylan on vacation to Santa Barbara over the weekend, and the foursome looked like the picture perfect family while strolling through a rose garden in the beach town.

It's been a rough couple years for the Douglas brood. The Last Vegas actor battled throat cancer in 2010, and the Traffic beauty sought treatment for bipolar disorder in 2011"
http://www.x17online.com/celebrities/michael_douglas/

THIS DESCRIBES THE GLAMOUR OF THE DRUG TRAFFICER AS PORTRAYED IN THE FILM:
As the trial against Carlos Ayala begins, his pregnant wife Helena (Zeta-Jones) learns of her husband's true profession. Facing the prospect of life imprisonment for her husband and death threats against her only child, Helena decides to hire Flores to assassinate Eduardo Ruiz; she knows killing Ruiz will effectively end the trial nolle prosequi. Flores plants a car bomb on a DEA car in an assassination attempt against Ruiz. Shortly after planting the bomb, Flores is assassinated by a sniper in retaliation for his co-operation with General Salazar; the car bomb kills Castro, but Gordon and Ruiz survive.

Helena (the Zeta Jones character), knowing Ruiz is soon scheduled to testify, makes a deal with Juan Obregón (Bratt), lord of the drug cartel, who forgives the debt of the Ayala family and has Ruiz poisoned. Ayala is released, much to the dissatisfaction of Gordon, who is still angry over the death of his partner. Soon after the release, Gordon bursts into the Ayala residence and surreptitiously plants a listening bug under his desk and leaves, secretly confident that his investigation will bring results.

The "Ayala/D.E.A." story is in bright, glossy, saturated in primary colors to illustrate the surface of the luxurious Ayala lifestyle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_(2000_film)


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Note added at 52 mins (2012-07-15 23:21:53 GMT)
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The term shows up in the following book which I think was published after the 2000 film.

Drug Use and Abuse: A Comprehensive Introduction
Howard Abadinsky
Cengage Learning, Jun 1, 2010 - 475 pages
In his powerful new Seventh Edition of DRUG USE AND ABUSE: A COMPREHENSIVE INTRODUCTION, Dr. Howard Abadinsky draws from the latest available data as he explores all aspects of the drug and alcohol abuse issue. The book's thorough coverage includes the history of drugs, the impact on society, the pharmacological impact of drugs on the body, policy implications, the criminal justice system response, drug business, drug law enforcement, theories of use, and -- of course -- the effects, treatment, and prevention of abuse.
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