Laughing at Addiction
When i first saw this video and others like it, i was appalled at the fact that we have somehow managed to twist a serious issue like addiction into a joke. Dave Chappelle did it with his character Tyrone Biggums. Now it seems that people have taken to the streets to find real human beings who are struggling with addiction, to make videos for entertainment purposes and throw on YouTube.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GkC0IHCtdc
When did addiction become funny? Seriously. When did it become okay to laugh and poke fun of crack heads and drunks? When did normal, functioning human beings decide that it was okay to make fun of addicts? And when will they let me in on the joke?
Addiction is a disease, a variation from normal human functioning. It carries enormous social and economic disadvantageous for the addict, his family and friends, and society. It isn’t something to be laughed at or taken lightly.
Addiction is a disease, a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and usage despite the harmful consequences. While the addict might make the initial choice to take drugs, after a while it becomes a biological urge, not a rational decision. The same way you or i might fight a craving for chocolate or a coke, the addict struggles with impulses to chase a high.
Addiction is a disease, not a choice, it is a compulsion driven by a biological response to the addictive substance. There’s a misconception in society that addicts can quit at any time. False. i don’t want to remove any of the blame from the addicts because it is initially a choice and i understand that. But drug abuse leads to a change in the structure and function of the brain which eventually affects a person’s ability to make sound decisions. Would we laugh at any other person whose biology affected their normal functioning?
Addiction is a disease, not a joke.
Tamara,
I agree with you that addiction is in fact a disease, and there is nothing funny about it. I will admit that there have been clips that I have seen about crack-heads’ actions that have made me laugh. I remember watching Next Friday and the female crack-head offered to blow Ice-cube’s characters for some money to get crack.
In a lot of black movies crack-heads, dope-fiends and shermheads are used to diffuse a heated situation and bring humor (and unfortunately sometimes I have laughed even with the work that I do with addictions).
My second thing…I really like your approach to this topic. Unfortunately some of my friends have argued that when white people make these kinds of clips it is racist and bigoted and when black people make it is ok. I think, like you do, that it is all bad or all good.
Tamara,
I agree with you that addiction is in fact a disease, and there is nothing funny about it. I will admit that there have been clips that I have seen about crack-heads’ actions that have made me laugh. I remember watching Next Friday and the female crack-head offered to blow Ice-cube’s characters for some money to get crack.
In a lot of black movies crack-heads, dope-fiends and shermheads are used to diffuse a heated situation and bring humor (and unfortunately sometimes I have laughed even with the work that I do with addictions).
My second thing…I really like your approach to this topic. Unfortunately some of my friends have argued that when white people make these kinds of clips it is racist and bigoted and when black people make it is ok. I think, like you do, that it is all bad or all good.
Supernerd,
Thanks for the honest response! I cut out part of my post where i discussed the way that i once viewed addicts. i think we’re conditioned to think that they’re dirty, irresponsible, funny, etc. But i took a class on biomedical enhancements and somehow ended up spending the semester researching addiction. i was blown away by the statistics. Something like 83% of homicides the perpetrator admits to being on some type of drug (alcohol included). It really hit me then that drug abuse has serious repercussions that we should consider before we laugh at people who struggle with addictions.
Again, thank you for your honesty!
Supernerd,
Thanks for the honest response! I cut out part of my post where i discussed the way that i once viewed addicts. i think we’re conditioned to think that they’re dirty, irresponsible, funny, etc. But i took a class on biomedical enhancements and somehow ended up spending the semester researching addiction. i was blown away by the statistics. Something like 83% of homicides the perpetrator admits to being on some type of drug (alcohol included). It really hit me then that drug abuse has serious repercussions that we should consider before we laugh at people who struggle with addictions.
Again, thank you for your honesty!
I know this might not be the most appropriate place to post this but for other readers living in the USA are you concerned about the debt? It just seems like it is getting to the point where the country is going to go bankrupt and my husband and I are just a little concerned that our kids and grandkids are going to have some big problems in a few years. Thanks for letting me vent, Sara
I know this might not be the most appropriate place to post this but for other readers living in the USA are you concerned about the debt? It just seems like it is getting to the point where the country is going to go bankrupt and my husband and I are just a little concerned that our kids and grandkids are going to have some big problems in a few years. Thanks for letting me vent, Sara
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