4

Thursday, May 4, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OPINION

A

day or two after Spring 
Break this year, as I sat 
studying in the Java Blu 

cafe in East Quad, I heard a girl 
say: “Well it isn’t Spring Break if 
someone doesn’t throw up.” She 
was referring to something her 
friend had said about someone 
on a Spring Break trip who’d 
vomited after drinking too much 
alcohol. Immediately, the casual 
way she responded struck me as 
odd. The way they both agreed 
with her statement and laughed. 
The normalcy with which they 
treated this. Unfortunately, it 
makes sense; this is nothing new, 
nothing unheard of — to drink 
with the intent of getting drunk 
and maybe getting sick. But sitting 
there, digesting what I’d heard, it 
really hit me how problematic this 
exchange was. 

 I’m not here to shame anyone for 

drinking. Rather, it is the narrative 
about drinking that must change. 
Too 
often 
individuals 
don’t 

contemplate how what we say — 
that it’s OK, even normal, to drink 
in excess — will affect others. 
What’s more, television shows, 
movies, books and more, also help 
create a culture around drinking 
that sends the wrong message. 
They often reaffirm statements 
like the one I overheard in Java 
Blu and even validate them. 
More importantly, they also 
precipitate them. 

Though I didn’t used to admit 

it, one of my favorite shows 
was Gossip Girl. (I still rewatch 

random episodes every once in 
awhile, but shhh, that’s a secret.) 
While I wouldn’t consider the 
show fine art by any means, 
I’m still a sucker for almost any 
show with a lot of drama. I was 
also fascinated by the glamorous 
aesthetic of Gossip Girl: the ball 
gowns, the themed parties, the 
sleepovers with French pastries 
and expensive art. But the one 
thing that always struck me 
was the abundance of alcohol in 
each episode, and all the times 
the 
characters 
would 
pop 

champagne in the back of a 
limo or drink at weddings until 
they found themselves too drunk 
to stand. 

Gossip Girl isn’t the only 

show that glamorizes teenagers 
drinking. 
Shows 
like 
Friday 

Night Lights and Pretty Little 
Liars do similar things. And in 
each show, while they do portray 
some consequences, it’s only to 
make the show more dramatic 
until there’s something else 
going on, and are not issues that 
are almost never fully addressed, 
made light of even.

 When America’s most well-

known 
television 
and 
movie 

characters are downing drink 
after drink, it encourages an 
already significant problem of 
binge drinking. Binge drinking 
is especially alarming on college 
campuses, where rates of binge 
drinking are much higher in 
comparison 
to 
non-college 

settings. While some articles, 

such as one in the New York 
Times, pinpoint the heightened 
problems on lax enforcement of 
laws and easy access to alcohol, 
what gets students there is a 
society that is full of messages 
OK-ing it. Though these issues of 
law enforcement and access may 
help fuel the problem, without 
real changes in the way we talk 
about and disseminate images 
of drinking and party culture, 
tougher policing and more limited 
access to alcohol won’t do much. 
Even the Times piece cites that 
many students already have access 
to and have used substances 
before coming to college — so it 
is not college in and of itself that 
creates this problem. 

This must be addressed, as 

drinking is a significant part of 
American society and can pose 
risks if it’s done in excess. For 
instance, 26.9 percent of people 
18 and older reported binge 
drinking in the past month. Since 
the legal drinking age is 21 in the 
United States, it is likely there are 
people who are not reporting their 
alcohol consumption truthfully, 
though the surveys were likely 
anonymous. Drinking has also 
been linked to creating various 
health problems, such as damage 
to one’s liver, an organ that is 
crucial to aid digestion and get 
important nutrients in your body. 
It can also, in some cases, affect 
one’s brain and has been linked 
to problems controlling diabetes. 
Arguably even more alarming, 

NISA KHAN

EDITOR IN CHIEF

SARAH KHAN

EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

DAYTON HARE

MANAGING EDITOR

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at 

the University of Michigan since 1890.

Change the narrative

is that around 88,000 people die 
from 
“alcohol-related 
causes” 

each year. 

And while the health risks 

associated with excessive drinking 
are more apparent, binge drinking 
does have other consequences. 
In 2010, binge drinking cost the 
United States $191 billion, which 
included “losses in productivity,” 
highlighting how it affects one’s 
day-to-day functions and how 
they can affect people in ways of 
which we may not even be aware. 

I know drinking will stay a part 

of our culture for a long time, 
seep into movies, television and 
songs, and I am not saying that 
the solution is to outlaw drinking. 
But if scholars, health officials 
and people nationwide want to 
combat increasing rates of binge 
drinking on college campuses 
and other unhealthy alcohol-
related habits, they need to take a 
good long look at the media. 

And for those who publish 

books, create our shows, produce 
our songs, they must think 
about the messages they are 
sending. The narrative so widely 
disseminated 
that 
glamorizes 

drugs and alcohol consumption 
or makes fun of two drunk 
people making out, must change 

to reflect realistic effects of 
drinking in this nature. If not, 
these mediums, with so much 
power, play a significant role 
in preserving a culture that 
promotes, and even encourages, 
dangerous 
drug 
and 
alcohol 

use. Getting powerful actors to 
step up is vitally important to 
help effectively change the way 
individuals talk about drinking. 

Yet, 
while 
it 
is 
nearly 

impossible for individuals to 
force larger changes in the way 
the 
media 
portrays 
drinking 

and party culture, we can still 
all do something to change 
the 
narrative. 
On 
a 
more 

individual level, it is important 
to think about how we have talk 
about drinking. As long as we 
normalize excessive drinking, 
pass it off as a “typical” Spring 
Break when someone pukes from 
alcohol poisoning, or post that 
picture making fun of the fact 
we don’t remember what they did 
after a night of drinking, we will 
continue to perpetuate this larger 
problem.

—Anna Polumbo-Levy can be 

reached at annapl@umich.edu. 

MICHELLE SHENG | CONTACT MICHELLE SHENGMI@UMICH.EDU

Carolyn Ayaub
Megan Burns

Samantha Goldstein

Caitlin Heenan
Jeremy Kaplan

Sarah Khan

Anurima Kumar

Ibrahim Ijaz
Max Lubell

Lucas Maiman

Alexis Megdanoff
Madeline Nowicki
Anna Polumbo-Levy 

Jason Rowland

Ali Safawi

Sarah Salman
Kevin Sweitzer

Rebecca Tarnopol

Stephanie Trierweiler
Anna Polumbo-Levy

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY | COLUMN

