Trainspotting presents an ostensible image of a fractured society. The 1996 film opens, famously, with a series of posited choices – variables, essentially, in the delineation of identity and opposition. The tone with which these options are presented is significant here: it could be seen as the rhetorical voice of society, a playful exposition of the pressure placed on individuals to make the "correct" choices, to conform to expectations . be read as contributing to the formation of two narrative constructions: that of “normality” – or at least that considered “normal” by the dominant ideology – and that of “sub-normality”, the rest. In its uncompromising rejection of the former, Renton's commentary on Ewan McGregor roots it deeply in the latter. We see this division brought up repeatedly. In the nightclub, for example, Renton quickly notices how the "successful" separate from the "unsuccessful": the former hug their new partners and the latter nod sheepishly. But “success” is more often linked to boredom and absurdity – to the easy life, to game shows and bingo; “Failure,” despite its inherent misery and difficulty, turns out to be exhilarating: a knife. The tension inherent in this opposition is arguably presented as a reason for the behavioral patterns described; “What people forget is the pure pleasure,” as Renton admits. One could describe the group of friends, united by failure, as classic anti-heroes; as characters with whom we sympathize despite the horrors they commit. It is a reading underpinned by nihilism, and one cannot help but recall the Zarahustrian “Table of Values” exposed by Nietzsche....... middle of paper ......e present and, as such, shapes the future. To what extent is the individual free, if we concede behavioral determinism? And if choices on the street can be predicted based on, for example, social class, gender, education and origin, can they really be considered free choices? The characters are perhaps shown as being “unfree”, because they are forced to make a choice: “a job”, a “career”, “great television”; to act otherwise is to choose death. The heroine represents this misnomer: she is the choice not made, the solidification of a philosophical abstraction. It is significant that the heroine never kills any of the characters, but only the consequences that accompany it. In short, Trainspotting examines the tension caused by segregation and citizenship demands, and thus explains social problems through the denial of this tension. Denial Only Exacerbates Problems.