MycoolFitz

I like to laugh but alcoholism is not inheritenty funny through the drunk can sometimes appear so. I regret its so common and hurtful but so misunderstood. I believe it to be a disease but I still feel shame. Lot's of revovery work to do. I do like South Park and Family Guy so i may just be twisted. Just that episode I found degrading and terribly misinformed. So work on myself, i can't be responsible for others though I can care.

MesoFreak

I know which one you are talking about, the one were Randy is a alcohol and goes to AA and Stan goes to AA pissed off and says something around the lines as: My dad is not powerless, he just needs to stop drinking so much... Alcoholism is not a disease like cancer, you guys choose this, people with cancer didn't.

I feel the way they do. Some call it a disease, I do not. I chose this path, people with real diseases did not. Everything bad that may come from the years of drinking was my doing and no one else; I take full responsibility, and thus I am not powerless because I do or do not have to drink. Sorry, but I don't feel its a disease, because then I am blaming someone/something else, and I don't want to blame anyone else but me.

Dee74

Sorry you were upset Fitz.

I've not seen that episode but I generally find 95% of what I see on TV about addiction has no basis in fact as I've experienced it.

I don't take life lessons from shows like SouthPark or Family Guy anyway

I found both fun in the beginning, but the jokes have well and truly worn off on me these days

D

DisplacedGRITS

i know i chose this path in the beginning but as it progressed it took on a life of it's own. people who say "you just need to stop drinking" are saying the right thing but have the wrong idea. yes, you have to stop drinking but just because you stop drinking doesn't mean you are no longer an alcoholic. an obese person who loses weight is no longer obese. there are types of diabetes that can be cured. polio is curable. some people can drink to excess, realize they're going to far and cut it off but an alcoholic is an alcoholic. if they get on that road and get into the drink, they are forever fighting it. it may not be a disease in the purest definition of the word but it's not just a matter of not drinking. if it was, many of us with solid sobriety would not continue to come to SR or attend support groups.

Someguy23

Family Guy is hit-and-miss these days but occasionally still has some really good episodes. South Park has gotten too preachy (not that Family Guy didn't flirt with it too).

As for personal responsibility in alcoholism, it is undeniable that certain personality and genetic traits can be precipitating factors, but I think it's obvious that much of the blame for alcoholism still lies with the alcoholic.

I don't recall anyone forcing me to chug beer spiked with vodka...

EDIT:

I'm not saying it's cool for South Park to frontally attack an organization that has helped many turn their lives around, but I do think their comment has some truth to it. Besides, a jester who never makes you a bit uncomfortable isn't doing his job right.

MesoFreak

If anyone does want to watch it to know what we are talking about, just go to southparkstudios.com and find the episode by MycoolFitz. Don't take it to personal as South Park and Family Guy attack everyone under the sun.

Someguy23

I'm embarassed to admit it, but I became curious enough to go watch it. Well, it was 50% curiosity, 50% caffeine-induced insomnia.

Its portrayal of alcohol recovery is pretty terrible, but I sincerely hope no one takes recovery advice from South Park. Its portrayal of AA is pretty offensive, but so is its portrayal of the catholic church and menstruation, so...

More importantly, it was lacking in jokes. The funniest joke was Randy at the end asking "Does vodka count?" That was worth a chuckle. Second funniest, the karate teacher saying "r" instead of "l"... pretty sad.

MycoolFitz

I'm sorry I have posted it I guess what bothered me was the son saying just have 2 or 3 beers, it's OK. And no I'm not powerless or I wouldn't be on here but I can not drink in moderation over time. I'll just call it my dise-ease. I take full responsibility but it still kind of sucks.

MesoFreak

Lol, you don't have to be embarrassed! I bet there was at least a dozen people that went to view the episode you just admitted it.

@MycoolFitz, we all struggle with it differently. I am an South Park viewer and was mildly offended with the episode, but that doesn't mean I don't agree with them. But to each there own on how they want to view their alcoholism.

mecanix

Yeh hearing something like that rings the old addict bell in my head . People say daft and hurtful things sometimes without realizing or thinking about what the're saying and from a position of very little knowledge on a subject .

Sometimes daft and ignorant people are helpful in as much as to see which buttons they can press in me so i can work on my serenity.

Thanks, M

thenn88

Yea I remember watching this episode a couple of years ago when I was trying to stay sober. I grabbed a drink right after I was done watching it. It made a little too much sense to me, it spoke to exactly what the alcoholic wanted to hear.

BruceJ

I'll probably watch it knowing that there are no sacred cows for South Park.

Re: something is not a disease if its self-inflicted...
If a person has unprotected sex and contracts aids....are they any less sick? Just sayin...

MesoFreak

No. But its still there fault for choosing to have unprotected sex.

Zee

I haven't watched that episode, but I doubt I would take any offense to it. Its just 'childish entertainment' and not supposed to be true to real life. Kenny gets killed in every episode... that doesn't happen in real life does it?

I actually find it funny, especially Cartman, but I have to be in the right mood for it.

ACT10Npack

I use to watch South Park all the time but I got too old for the show. I've seen that episode and found it really funny. You got to remember that South Park only created 6 days to write and make the episode. The only part I would say that got it wrong was the part where you can 2 or 3 beers and you will be okay which we know that some people can't do that.

If your offended of the episode then you should not be watching it in the first place.

onlythetruth

South Park makes outrageous fun of everything, including many things that particular people hold sacred. I don't watch it often, but when I do, I often squirm...because they seem to hit on exactly the kernel of truth that makes the piece both funny and offensive.

There's definitely a kernel of truth to the critique of the disease theory, which (among other things) is what the Bloody Mary episode hones in on. I do wish we used a different word to describe addictions because, even though there is some accuracy to the word "disease" it isn't quite right.

I look at my mother who has Alzheimers. Slowly but surely, that progressive disease is killing her. And she has no choice. There are no profound, life-altering decisions for her; no amount of prayer will alter the course of her disease. Medications can do nothing more than slow it down as it quietly strips her of her mind, her personality, her interests and her dignity. And I think: now, THAT is a disease.

And it's this comparison, this kernel of truth that our friends at South Park exploit for laughs.

Veggiejojo

I quite like South Park when I'm in the mood. The danger of laughing at all other groups they offend and then taking offence when it is a bit near the knuckle to your own beliefs is that you might go the way of Chef . . .

If we are in sobriety for the long haul we will need to deal with this sort of stuff, getting wound up by things won't help, x

MycoolFitz

I get it I was feeling unusually fragile when I watched it. There are times I'm stronger than others. I try to stay positive in my posts and open, I was just down. I need to think before I post but that is so much work :-)

MesoFreak

No worries. We all get fragile at some point or another for various reasons.

@onlythetruth, I agree. I would call it having more self-control (but I guess that defeats some of the points of AA) or as South Park said: more ah discispran, lol

wellwisher

Yep, Fitz, a lack of understanding or disagreement about the nature of problems or recovery solutions is often the reason people denigrate them.

I watch Family Guy and South Park, but when I swim with sharks, I increase the chances of getting bitten by one.

Both shows are irreverent to everything.