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
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tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at
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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
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ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY | COLUMN