unromanticising alcoholism

A common occurrence in today’s society’s teenage generation is the romanticisation of taking drugs and/or developing a drug addiction such as alcoholism. I produced this film in hopes to symbolise the un-romanticisation of alcoholism, a common drug that teenager’s intake particularly at parties or as an outlet to deal with their emotions and excess stress. Throughout the film gold spray paint is utilised to symbolise the alcoholic beverage ‘wine’; the lightness of the spray conveys the beginning stages of first drinking whilst the spray mixing with the large amounts of water conveys how light drinking can easily progress into heavy drinking. As the model places herself into the wine barrel full of water, to directly portray alcoholism, it begins to overflow expressing how the more you drink, the more you become addicted thus creating a cycle of drinking more and becoming further addicted. The models presence in the barrel symbolises her entrapment within the alcohol addiction, with various gestures such as clawing at her body and rustling her hair conveying the immense distress to achieve overcoming the addiction as well as confronting the audience with how torturous this addiction can be. The reoccurring flashing of light upon the models figure symbolises the confliction of wanting to escape the addiction but also wanting to stay addicted in order to gain a quicker ‘relief’; it’s light [model] verses dark [alcoholism]. The sitting amongst the shattered mirror and reflective alfoil with a distorted mirror placed behind her portrays the distorted reflection of herself; a broken girl with no idea on which route to take in order to escape. The dragging of a broken mirror piece along the black tarp portrays how recovery from the addiction can be painful alike to instilling a ‘sharp cut’, distorts someone’s self-view at that point in time, and in turn results in an ‘ugly’ experience. The smashing of the wine bottles conveys the frustrating ongoing battle with the addiction, whereas the reverse smashing signifies that no matter how far she gets in recovery she always seems to be pulled back into the abyss of the drinking. Subsequently, her leaving the wine barrel demonstrates leaving her addiction and turning out anew. All of these elements are presented in time with the music (Ballade No 1 in G Minor, Op 23 -Kousei Piano – Kaori Violin clean ver- (Shigatsu Wa Kimi No Uso) to create a fluently powerful and confronting experience for the viewers.

Kudos to those who have overcome this sickening addiction.  

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Substance Use Disorder

Substance abuse refers to the harmful use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and drugs. Substance use can lead to addiction and dependence, creating a condition...

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