The Queen’s Gambit Hides A Dark Truth About Its Pills

The Queen’s Gambit revolves around American drug abuse but doesn’t fully address the dark backstory. Scott Frank and Allan Scott co-created the limited series, which is based on Walter Tevis’ eponymous 1983 novel. The Netflix adaptation, released in October 2020, centers on a young chess prodigy who struggles with personal vices as an adult.

Set during the late ’50s and early ’60s, The Queen’s Gambit begins at a Kentucky orphanage. One day, a young girl named Beth Harmon (Isla Johnston) wanders into a basement, where she learns to play chess from custodian Mr. Shaibel (Bill Camp). Meanwhile, the orphanage residents are provided with green and white “vitamins,” which are later revealed to be a tranquilizer called Xanzolam. As Beth becomes a better chess player, she pretends to swallow her pills but actually saves them for recreational purposes. At night, Beth lies in bed and envisions a chess board on the ceiling, allowing to her strategize while tripping out on the alleged vitamins. The Queen’s Gambit stars Anya Taylor-Joy as an older version of Beth.

The Queen’s Gambit glosses over historical truths for the sake of efficient storytelling. The series leans heavily on the premise that young Beth needs Xanzolam to become a world class chess player, and the early episodes show her immediately benefitting from consuming several pills at one time. She’s able to focus her thoughts and receives a different strategic perspective. In reality, though, Beth Harmon never existed, nor is there a tranquilizer called Xanzolam. What’s true, however, is that some American orphanages sedated young residents during the mid-50s (via BuzzFeed News). In the Queen’s Gambit, the young protagonist’s addiction re-emerges during her teenage years, as she’s adopted and discovers that her new mother, Alma Wheatley (Marielle Heller), has a prescription for Xanzolam. The underlying subtext is that young American women of the late ’50s and early ’60s, regardless of their background, were struggling to cope with the realities of daily life.

According to Newsweek, the focal green pill in The Queen’s Gambit bears “striking similarities” to chlordiazepoxide, otherwise known as Librium. The drug was approved for medical use in 1960, and so it would’ve been prescribed for American women dealing with anxiety and insomnia. In The Queen’s Gambit, the filmmakers offer a commentary on American culture of the time by underlining the dysfunctional relationship between Beth and Alma. The mother struggles with relationship issues and masks her sadness with alcohol and Xanzolam, or Librium. Meanwhile, the underage daughter is allowed to consume alcohol while dealing with a drug addiction that helps her become the best chess player in the world.

As noted on page one of Tevis’ book, American women of the early ’60s presumably needed to “even their dispositions.” For example, look at the Mad Men character Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), a woman who tries to stay one step ahead in her professional life, during the early ’60s, by presenting a specific image. As for The Queen’s Gambit, the series effectively implies certain information without being didactic and allows audiences to connect the appropriate dots. For younger viewers, The Queen’s Gambit could be interpreted as a fantasy; a tale of what young women from the late ’50s and early ’60s imagined rather than experienced. In episode one, there’s a disturbing visual of young Beth overdosing, and it’s stylized to keep audiences entertained, to keep them wanting more. As some older Netflix streamers may painfully understand, though, early ’60s “green pill” consumption was less about achieving excellence and more about getting through the day to day grind. The Queen’s Gambit acknowledges that concept through Beth and Alma, but without diving deep into character psychology.

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Q.V. Hough
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Q.V. Hough is a senior writer at Screen Rant. He’s also the founding editor at Vague Visages, and has contributed to RogerEbert.com and Fandor.

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