Level One Connections

Anything is harmful when abused. Especially when it is designed to create a physiological effect. Drugs and alcohol may be two of the most infamous abused substances, usually to the point of addiction. My theme, the harmful effects of alcohol and drugs, is prominent in media such as ‘Walk The Line’ from James Mangold, ‘Parents’ from The Meth Project, ‘Your Brain On Jingle Jangle,’ from Netflix, and ‘The Umbrella Academy’ from Steve Blackman and Jeremy Slater.

The film ‘Walk The Line’ by James Mangold shows us the harmful effects of prescribed drugs. We watch as Johnny Cash develops an unhealthy relationship with the prescribed medications ‘amphetamine’ and ‘barbiturates.’ He uses the excuse that the doctor prescribed them to ignore the fact that he is truly addicted. Throughout the movie, Cash struggles with this addiction. It becomes clearly harmful when Johnny crumbles on stage as an effect of the drugs we see him take. For example, for his Las Vegas show, he appears late and quite out of it. His suit is messy, his shirt is untucked, and he looks a mess. He’s sweating profusely and is struggling with the harsh light. As the first song goes on, he slurs his words and is mumbling. June Carter, who knows John well at this point in the film, sees that something is wrong. We see this in her expression as she watches her friend forget the words, yell at his drummer, and get angry at his mic stand after he almost drops it. He quickly becomes dizzy, as the camera, handheld, becomes shakier and a lot less smooth. Eventually, he falls. After a shot of Johnny laying crumpled on the ground of the stage, we’re shown a shot of his face. The dialogue comes and goes as he fades in and out of consciousness and there is a blur around the edges of the image. Without explicitly telling us that his addiction is harmful, Mangold shows us how Johnny relying on these prescription drugs caused him to overdose and how it is affecting his career. Not only is his job affected, but he ends up harming his relationships with both his family and his friends. His children become scared of how angry he gets when facing withdrawal symptoms and his wife leaves him.

Riverdale’s PSA, ‘Your Brain on Jingle Jangle,’ tells us, more so than showing us, the harmful effects of their made-up drug ‘Jingle Jangle,’ which can just be substituted for most class ‘A’ drugs. The fifty second PSA shows one of the main characters, ‘Veronica Lodge,’ in her diner, holding a plate of food. She tells us “this is your brain,” picks up a frying pan and says, “and this is Jingle Jangle.” She places the food on the counter as she tells us that this is your brain on Jingle Jangle, before smashing the food to mush with the frying pan. This tells us that taking this drug destroys your brain in a similar way to how she destroyed that burger. Veronica destroying things continues for most of the ad. She says, “this is what your body goes through,” while she hits a basket of fries off the counter. Then she goes on to smash plates, cups, etc. to represent what your family, ‘frenemies,’ and friends go through when you take ‘Jingle Jangle.’ Finally, a single milkshake sits on top of a counter, before Veronica takes a sharp swing at it. This all is a clear depiction of the overall harmful effects of drugs on anyone who may take them. Becoming addicted to drugs destroys your brain and damages your body from the inside out. It’s depicted as almost guaranteed your relationships, with family and friends, will at least be strained if not completely ruined.

The same ideas of the harmful physical effects are shown similarly in both ‘Walk The Line,’ and ‘Your Brain on Jingle Jangle.’ Both texts explain that drugs can take a toll on your health, in similar yet different ways. In the PSA, Veronica uses a more metaphorical way of showing us this as she takes a frying pan to a bowl of fries. Thus, she destroys them the same way drugs do inside of your body. Walk the Line shows us exactly what happens by putting us in a scene with someone who has overdosed by blurring the screen and muddling the audio around Cash.

The Meth Project makes all sorts of PSA’s based on the harmful effects of meth. In the specific 30 second PSA, ‘Parents,’ we see how the boy who is addicted to meth is isolated from his family. He has seemingly been kicked out of his home and is trying to repair this relationship. For example, we’re first shown the boy running through a gate. The shot pans to the mother in the window to the living room, letting herself collapse onto the sofa as she sobs. Their son runs to the front door, screaming that he’s sorry. When the father enters the living, his body language and facial expression tell us he is pissed. As the kid screams for his parents, the father goes to confront him, only to be pulled back by his distraught wife. When he’s ignored, his feigned remorse turns to anger. His screaming only gets louder, his cries now threats. He is literally screaming ‘let me in, I’m going to kill you,’ and trying to kick down the door. In a wide shot of the entire scene, the father pulls away from his wife and turns off the light. We’re left with only the porch light illuminating the son. This is done to show us the disconnect between him and his family. The kid’s left outside during Christmas. The mother is upset, the father is angry. We very clearly see the tension caused by this kid’s addiction to meth. There’s barely any relationship left between them and the parents have resorted to ignoring and shutting out their own son. 

Numerous scene’s throughout Steve Blackman and Jeremy Slater’s Netflix series, ‘The Umbrella Academy,’ show how using drugs to cope with life takes a toll on you and your relationship with those around you. For instance, Klaus Harvgreeves is the ‘druggie’ of his family. He started doing drugs at a mere thirteen to cope with his ability to see the dead. This is because these drugs repress this ability due to developing a harsh relationship with it after being locked in a mausoleum for days on end. Our introduction to Klaus in the first episode, ‘We Only See Each Other At Weddings And Funerals,’ is him leaving rehab before immediately buying drugs. His interaction with the other people in rehab leads us to believe this is not the first time he has done this and that he is constantly in and out of the centre. Later on in the same episode, he rummages through his late father’s office, one that he was not allowed in during his childhood. In this scene, he is looking for something of value, as he knew his father was quite well off. When he is caught by two of his adoptive siblings, we’re shown what their relationship is like. While Allison doesn’t tell him to put anything back, Luther does. We’re given a view of the tension between the two. At his father’s funeral, Klaus is clearly high. He’s smoking during the very, very small ceremony. He both doesn’t care enough to be sober and holds an obvious grudge against his father, as he was the reason Klaus became reliant on drugs. In the episode titled, ‘Man on The Moon,’ we see how harmful his reliance on these drugs really is. In this episode, Klaus has been kidnapped. During this time, Klaus is unable to get high and is sent through horrible withdrawal symptoms. All while unable to help himself, as he is tied down. He screams in anguish, obviously struggling to come down from his high. This scene is one of the first times he’s been properly sober in years and he is in clear pain. Despite this, the only way for Klaus to help himself in this scene is to get sober and face what he’s always feared. Throughout the series, Blackman and Slater show us exactly how Klaus’ reliance on drugs holds him back, puts tension on his relationships with his family, and damages his health all at the same time. 

This lack of family trust and relationship seen in ‘Parents’ is also seen in ‘The Umbrella Academy’ between Klaus Hargreeves, his father, Reginald, and his adoptive brother, Luther. The two are actually very similar in how they represent this familial stress. Both Klaus and the boy are outsiders within their own family. They’re both looked down upon by their parents and neither of them are helping themselves with their drug use. From what we know about the boy in ‘Parents,’ he doesn’t have any siblings. However, his parents treat him like a headache, a distraction. Luther treats Klaus this way too, thinking he’s no more than annoying.

Taking and becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol does not only affect you but those around you too. ‘Walk The Line,’ ‘Parents,’ ‘The Umbrella Academy,’ and ‘Your Brain On Jingle Jangle,’ all showed us as an audience, despite being very different texts, exactly how addiction can affect you physically, mentally, and socially. They each explained that no matter who you are, not a lot of long-term good comes out of substance abuse.