Why Can’t Hollywood Get The Spectrum Of Rock Bottom Right?
I watched a TV pilot about a woman in recovery on Hulu. This one was about a young woman which intrigued me because oftentimes we laugh off the young drunk female as normal, or expected. We even romanticize it (Sex and the City was essentially a 6-season ad for the Cosmo).
The few young women who do wind up in cinematic rehab often go through a profound rock-bottom a la Sandra Bullock in 28 days. And this particular TV pilot was no exception.
A lot of people experience explosive rock bottoms, but I wish there were more stories of the private rock bottoms. The mental rock bottoms. The realization that this is the end in the quiet space of a woman’s mind.
I know why Hollywood does it of course. It’s a lot easier and more exciting to portray a loud catastrophic scene then dig deep Into the depths of a woman’s soul. But Its absolutely doable. Look how they portrayed depression with Maid? The scene where the couch consumes the main character made the hairs on my arm stand on end, it cut so deep.
So why can’t Hollywood portray the spectrum of rock-bottom? Why can’t we show that many rock bottoms look like a panic attack, or a close call, or waking up after that one hangover and knowing you never want to put yourself through this again.
Sex and the City recently tried. Their reboot And Just Like That did a half decent job at showing Miranda’s grey area drinking and rocky bottom as a sub plot. I was pleased that her descent wasn’t overly stereotypical nor was her spontaneous sobriety, though there were some clichés. Nips in the purse, for example.
Miranda ordered the book Quit like a Woman, a book I think all the characters of Sex and the City would benefit from reading. But when she raised her glass of non alcoholic wine to toast her commitment to dry life, she called the wine “this crap” and my stomach dropped because if any of the writers of Sex and the City had read the book Quit like a Woman, Miranda would not have said that. (If you’ve read the book you know exactly what I mean).
And maybe that’s the problem. Maybe we have writers writing about things they don’t understand or leaning on stereotypes instead of trying to learn more. Or maybe, because Hollywood is all about views, a Hollywood rock-bottom is simply about sending shock waves. I get all that.
But I would sure love to see characters that more accurately reflect not just the spectrum of substance use disorder but the spectrum of recovery… Starting with their rock bottom and/or day one.
Rock-bottom, addiction and recovery doesn’t look the same for everyone. There’s no formula.
Let’s do a better job of portraying the full spectrum in the media.