tailieunhanh - Script(ing) treatment: representations of recovery from addiction in Hollywood film

Addiction and recovery have been topics of Hollywood films and movies of the week and are increasingly integrated into mainstream television shows through the inclusion of addicted characters. Now the producers of reality shows have entered the field with the new American television show Intervention, on the A&E channel. Intervention follows addicts (broadly defined to include substance abuse, as well as shopping and other addictive behaviors) through the progression of their addiction, and then confronts them with a choice between treatment or expulsion from the lives of their loved ones | Contemporary Drug Problems 32 Fall 2005 467 Script ing treatment representations of recovery from addiction in Hollywood film BY CURT HERSEY American films and television programs increasingly feature characters recovering from addiction. These representations are based on previous depictions and help create a cultural understanding of addicts. This study analyzes the depiction of addicts and addiction in three Hollywood films whose narratives are largely situated within a treatment center Clean and Sober 1988 When a Man Loves a Woman 1994 and 28 Days 2000 . It concludes that the films depict a stock experience of treatment that is surprisingly univocal as well as unrealistic when compared with the availability and realities of real-life programs. In addition the films limit their representations of successful recovery to white upper-class individuals and offer only one conceptual framework for addiction. Key words Addiction film recovery treatment representation. AUTHOR S NOTE I would like to thank Dr. Ted Friedman Dr. Robin Room Karen Hersey and the journal reviewers for their suggestions and comments on this article. 2005 by Federal Legal Publications Inc. 468 SCRIPT ING TREATMENT Addiction and recovery have been topics of Hollywood films and movies of the week and are increasingly integrated into mainstream television shows through the inclusion of addicted characters. Now the producers of reality shows have entered the field with the new American television show Intervention on the A E channel. Intervention follows addicts broadly defined to include substance abuse as well as shopping and other addictive behaviors through the progression of their addiction and then confronts them with a choice between treatment or expulsion from the lives of their loved ones. Although there are myriad possible moral and clinical objections to such a show Intervention seems to be the next step in a growing wave of media products using addiction and recovery as plot devices. .