![Ep. 140 - Kicking the Hollywood Habit: Addiction Morality Tales in Film and TV [Virtual Live Show]](https://img5.samsuka.com/storage/11/jp/nn/c6f9d9-019e8b69-e4ad-7959-969b-74a50a6dc5ef.png)
Ep. 140 - Kicking the Hollywood Habit: Addiction Morality Tales in Film and TV [Virtual Live Show]
Added 2021-07-07 17:04:16 +0000 UTCAn ambitious young man is lured into a world of drug use, his life soon in a shambles. A family is forced to kick their drug-addicted son out of their home. A woman resists rehab, then embraces it, finding it the most affirming experience of her life. These plot lines exemplify the melodrama of countless films and television dramas depicting addiction.
Since the 1930s, Hollywood has cultivated a hyperbolic characterization of people struggling with substance use. In film after film, show after show, people with drug and alcohol use disorders are burdensome, reckless, meandering zombies whose only hope for recovery are punitive measures: deprivation of necessities like housing and cars, dangerous rehab facilities, or the threat of jail.
In reality, these cold-turkey, abstinence-only, “tough love” measures aren’t particularly helpful—and in fact are often counterproductive. Instead, studies repeatedly show the effectiveness of harm-reduction approaches, like treating opioid addiction with medication. But maintenance and mitigation don’t make for the same compelling drama as downward spirals and a brutal rock-bottom followed by a cathartic climactic redemption —an issue that has long affected policy and public perception of drugs and substance use.
On this very special virtual live episode, we examine the history of onscreen depictions of addiction, dissect the dehumanizing tropes embedded within each of them, and discuss how they relate to drug policy in the United States.
Our guest is writer Zach Siegel.
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Guest
Zach Siegel is a Journalism Fellow at Northeastern University's Health In Justice Action Lab and co-host of Narcotica, a podcast about drugs, informed by science, policy, and the lives of real drug users.
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Live Show Video
For a video recording of the Virtual Live Show, go here.
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Show Notes
What Popular Culture Misunderstands About Addiction
Zachary Siegel | February 18, 2021 | The Nation
Hollywood Has a New Way to Dramatize Addiction
Zachary Siegel | May 11, 2021 |The New York Times
How TV Dramas Informed And Misinformed Perceptions Of The War On Drugs
Eric Deggans | June 18, 2021 | All Things Considered (NPR)
How racism contributed to marijuana prohibition in the US
Alyssa Pagano | March 31, 2021 | Insider
Contracts Reveal for First Time How DEA Exercises Control Over Television, Film Productions
Tom Secker | May 28, 2019 | Shadowproof
How Joe Biden’s Policies Made the Opioid Crisis Harder to Treat
Zachary Siegel | May 23, 2019 | Politico
Drugs in Cinema: Separating the Myths from Reality
Paul Iannicelli | 2001 | UCLA Entertainment Law Review
Daniel Forbes | January 13, 2000 | Salon
In Trade-Off With TV Networks, Drug Office Is Reviewing Scripts
Marc Lacey with Bill Carter | January 14, 2000 | The New York Times
Statement on the Taxation of Marihuana
Dr. William C. Woodward | May 4, 1937 | U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here.
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Comments
This was so cool! I don't know if you guys know about Another Round, but it won an Oscar for best international film this year- and it's a really great and unique film because it depicts how the lives of a group of Danish men are actually improved by using alcohol, even in excess. It really makes an effort to do away with Hollywood moralizing, and from the articles I've read, this was quite intentional. I would encourage you guys (and anyone) to check it out, if you haven't already.
Sean L Byrne
2021-07-28 07:38:06 +0000 UTCVisit the health profession subreddits and you will absolutely see people hoping that nonadherent diabetics suffer for their choices. Also here's a great thing about the Elan school: https://elan.school/
Coupcumber
2021-07-14 06:44:03 +0000 UTCHappy to join through Patreon (finally). You guys have been my “never-miss” podcast for awhile... glad I am pitching in a little. Really appreciate the work you do!
Dash X
2021-07-14 00:39:52 +0000 UTCThere's a link in the description of this post, but for you convenience, here: https://vimeo.com/572168340/2aea97c5a4
2021-07-13 14:22:52 +0000 UTCthank you so much for doing this! at the beginning i think you mentioned that there was a video version available? where would one find that? or did i misunderstand and that was only for the live version?
Emma & Brian
2021-07-13 06:10:42 +0000 UTC
