of that simply moves the plot. In broader terms, [Aylmer] and all of that was simply a free ride, a way out: escapism. There are many other avenues for that besides drugs, but drug imagery was a simple, easy way of expressing that in a film. He likened the film to a "superficial adaptation of Faust", a reading echoed by Los Angeles Times film critic Leonard Klady. Henenlotter rejected the notion that Brain Damage could be reasonably viewed as pro-drug in nature, stating, "If I planned to portray drugs as pleasurable, Brian wouldn't have lost everything that had meaning to him: his girlfriend, his life, all of it. If he's left alone with his pleasure, then what's the point?" He then asserted that the film is neither "pro-drug" nor "anti-drug" in relation to real-life drug issues, but instead "a monster movie." Ahead of the film's release in Australia, Neil Jillett of The Age argued, "Brain Damage can be interpreted as an allegory about drug abuse, with the monster Aylmer standing in for heroin and Brian as an addict. The allegory is underlined by the use of the language of addiction in the film's dialogue. The allegory's message is that death is the only cure for heroin addiction." In 2017, journalist Michael Gingold wrote of the film that, "Appearing in the midst of the 'Just Say No' anti-drug campaign initiated by First Lady Nancy Reagan, the portrait of young man trying to kick a parasitical habit [...] was especially trenchant." Sexuality As well as invoking drug abuse, Martin viewed Aylmer's needle entering Brian's neck as "a pretty grim, anti-sexual image". In response to Martin's interpretation of the film's screenplay as being representative of a dread of sexual intercourse, Henenlotter stated: Oh no, I don't think so at all! I don't agree with that at all. In an earlier version of the script, I had [Aylmer] so sexual in nature that it was dangerous; some of that carries over. But the thing is, any time someone mixes sex and horror, it's assumed that this is someone who hates sex or has a loathing of it. And that just isn't so. However, Henenlotter did acknowledge a sexual undertone to the film, adding: One of the guys at the lab was saying, "Oh my God, you're making some kind of weird statement here—you've got a monster that looks phallic, talking about his juice!" What