Have you ever noticed how saturated American entertainment is with addiction? Odds are, a good number of your favorite television shows feature a character with some kind of addiction problem; be it drugs, alcohol, gambling, maybe even Crabby Patties. Often, reoccurring characters are portrayed as functioning alcoholics, one of the most common representations. I feel like most people don’t even recognize or acknowledge this fact because it is so customary that it has become undetectable, it is now a part of our culture. If you watch any of these critically acclaimed shows and movies, then you have seen addiction casually being portrayed: “Mad Men”, “Arrested Development”, “The Simpsons” (and every other adult animated show), “House”, “Greys Anatomy”, “Chappelle’s Show”, “Iron Man”, “Sherlock Holmes”, “SpongeBob”, “The Wolf of Wallstreet” and the list goes on and on.
Why are we so fascinated with watching addiction? Is it the new secret ingredient to an Emmy Nomination these days? Does it have something to do with how wildly over-medicated America is with about seven in ten Americans taking prescription drugs? Or maybe we as a country just don’t take addiction seriously. We watch and enjoy shows with characters that parody addicts in demeaning ways. It is as if we conveniently forget that addiction is a disease for the sake of our own entertainment. We love watching Chappelle’s Show reruns featuring Tyrone Biggums and his crack-fueled escapades. We laugh out loud on cue as that one constantly-drunk character on our favorite sitcom does something characteristically stupid. We turn a blind eye when the protagonist uses liquor as a coping mechanism and drowns themselves in it for the third time in one episode. We even share viral videos of people overdosing in public while no one offers them help.
We forget that not everything is a joke and that there are people actually struggling daily. There are people of all ages and backgrounds who have addiction problems. Addicts are rich, poor, young, old, urban-living, homeless, business leaders, and more; the scenarios are endless. People die every day of overdose. It is time to stop entertaining these offensive and unwarranted stereotypes and start treating addiction for what it is: a disease. Because, odds are, you know an addict and you may not even be aware of it. Promoting awareness and keeping an eye out for red flags from the people you care about could help you save a life. This is not to turn you off from your favorite shows and movies, just be sure to not let false representations of addiction cloud your judgement. Remember, no two addicts are alike.