The Familiar Moderation Is Good Argument
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The Familiar Moderation Is Good Argument
We're familiar with "moderation in anything is a good thing." It's applied to eating too many bad things; eating too much, period; consuming too much TV or internet; shopping; on and on. We've probably heard it long before we ever considered we had a problem with the way we consumed things, particularly pleasures and "vices."
For those in the USA and Canada who watched Family Guy last night, that old saying was the moral used there too. Yes, it's just a TV comedy, but sometimes we take in messages as though they were meant to be serious. Death (an actual character who visits Peter once in a while) taught Peter a lesson after his near-fatal car crash about how wholesome he was before he ever touched a drop of alcohol; and somehow the moral turned out to be that you don't have to give up drinking entirely, and that all a person has to do is give in to reason once in a while (can you not stay away from the bottle once in a while and be moderate?). Meanwhile, one of the humorous adventures Peter had gone through before this near-fatal crash was court-ordered AA. So AA and the concept of taking the absolute quitting route was given a slap through the comedy, since the plot ended with the moralizing about moderation. Of course, Peter would be throwing away 3 beers every time he bought a 6-pack (showing us the insanity inside his application of moderation values), but still...moderation was the "winner" in the plot and not quitting and change.
Well, for most of us using this site, that moral is utter BS. Moderation isn't the good guy for people who recognize addiction. Moderation is either a bad choice or a pipe dream or something people are trying to do as they experience more about their journey with addiction; or something they have left behind. I don't think moderation existed for me for very long at the start of my drinking career, even though it was a few years before I was drinking every day. I just didn't understand yet that moderation wasn't something I could do and that reality would get more and more concrete as the years piled on. My relationship with alcohol was not the same as the kind a normal drinker could have. I really just needed to be a non-drinker, and that's what I am now.
So, again, Family Guy is just an animated comedy with a lot of adult humour. But it's also provocative stuff. I know that people get sensitive about the messages they see in the world all the time, and that goes for people here that have quit their addiction too. (We have lots of posts about "Hollywood lies" and that sort of thing and how we have to take them in stride or look the other way and focus on what we need to.) That's where my intent in bringing this up comes from.
Aside from that, I am somehow able to put up with Two and a Half Men and actually laugh, maybe because the ongoing plots are just so over the top that we're supposed to know this is not good. But I did notice I laughed very little at Family Guy last night! Moderation as an option is not funny to me, so that episode won't be among my favourites!
For those in the USA and Canada who watched Family Guy last night, that old saying was the moral used there too. Yes, it's just a TV comedy, but sometimes we take in messages as though they were meant to be serious. Death (an actual character who visits Peter once in a while) taught Peter a lesson after his near-fatal car crash about how wholesome he was before he ever touched a drop of alcohol; and somehow the moral turned out to be that you don't have to give up drinking entirely, and that all a person has to do is give in to reason once in a while (can you not stay away from the bottle once in a while and be moderate?). Meanwhile, one of the humorous adventures Peter had gone through before this near-fatal crash was court-ordered AA. So AA and the concept of taking the absolute quitting route was given a slap through the comedy, since the plot ended with the moralizing about moderation. Of course, Peter would be throwing away 3 beers every time he bought a 6-pack (showing us the insanity inside his application of moderation values), but still...moderation was the "winner" in the plot and not quitting and change.
Well, for most of us using this site, that moral is utter BS. Moderation isn't the good guy for people who recognize addiction. Moderation is either a bad choice or a pipe dream or something people are trying to do as they experience more about their journey with addiction; or something they have left behind. I don't think moderation existed for me for very long at the start of my drinking career, even though it was a few years before I was drinking every day. I just didn't understand yet that moderation wasn't something I could do and that reality would get more and more concrete as the years piled on. My relationship with alcohol was not the same as the kind a normal drinker could have. I really just needed to be a non-drinker, and that's what I am now.
So, again, Family Guy is just an animated comedy with a lot of adult humour. But it's also provocative stuff. I know that people get sensitive about the messages they see in the world all the time, and that goes for people here that have quit their addiction too. (We have lots of posts about "Hollywood lies" and that sort of thing and how we have to take them in stride or look the other way and focus on what we need to.) That's where my intent in bringing this up comes from.
Aside from that, I am somehow able to put up with Two and a Half Men and actually laugh, maybe because the ongoing plots are just so over the top that we're supposed to know this is not good. But I did notice I laughed very little at Family Guy last night! Moderation as an option is not funny to me, so that episode won't be among my favourites!
Not waving, but drowning
Join Date: Jan 2011
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Thanks for your post.
I wouldn't mind the misconceptions embedded in tv and movies so much if most of the population was better educated about alcohol and alcoholism. But as a country, we're not.
I've learned a lot about alcoholism in the last few months, and some of the concepts are ones it would have been good to know as a child or adolescent---such as what constitutes alcoholic behavior. I think of myself as well-read, but I had no clue!
Here's hoping there is a breakthrough at some point in educating the general population, and dispelling myths.
I wouldn't mind the misconceptions embedded in tv and movies so much if most of the population was better educated about alcohol and alcoholism. But as a country, we're not.
I've learned a lot about alcoholism in the last few months, and some of the concepts are ones it would have been good to know as a child or adolescent---such as what constitutes alcoholic behavior. I think of myself as well-read, but I had no clue!
Here's hoping there is a breakthrough at some point in educating the general population, and dispelling myths.
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Toronto - I would've been livid if I'd seen that. As you point out, it's just a tv comedy - but that show is immensly popular & has alot of influence.
I know for me, I looked for any excuse - wherever I could find it - to keep on drinking. If I'd seen that before I quit, I would've probably said, "Yeah, that's the ticket - all I need to do is cut down." I would've clung to anything - no matter how ridiculous - if it could convince me I didn't have to quit all together.
I know for me, I looked for any excuse - wherever I could find it - to keep on drinking. If I'd seen that before I quit, I would've probably said, "Yeah, that's the ticket - all I need to do is cut down." I would've clung to anything - no matter how ridiculous - if it could convince me I didn't have to quit all together.
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That's sadly the perception of so many people...alcoholics or not....some say oh can't you just put it down? or stop just like that? or surely you can drink just a couple!! I know for myself I don't have that switch..wasn't born with it....and my brother is sadly the same and he is trying to "moderate" without much success.......people who don't get it...hopefully will..and for the rest of us who know....one day at a time!!! 
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Yes, the notion that we should be able to just drink a little and not go crazy with it - and not to be extremists, one way or the other - was what made it not so funny for me while I was watching. It's not reality for me. I know that this same kind of thinking from that episode is in the minds of people in real life who express doubts about somebody being an alcoholic. That includes the ones who would say, "Come on, you have just one or two" and also the people that think you're trying to be an actor (dramatic/histrionic) or looking for attention.
I can take some jokes at alcoholics' expense in a comedy, like if they show the alcoholics (or people in AA) smoking or guzzling coffee - the typical stuff that people would say. But when it comes to a topic like whether moderation can be achieved, that's when it's not so entertaining. So once the re-run of that episode comes out, I'll know in advance I won't be glued to the set for that one, ha ha.
I can take some jokes at alcoholics' expense in a comedy, like if they show the alcoholics (or people in AA) smoking or guzzling coffee - the typical stuff that people would say. But when it comes to a topic like whether moderation can be achieved, that's when it's not so entertaining. So once the re-run of that episode comes out, I'll know in advance I won't be glued to the set for that one, ha ha.
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QUOTE=Danae;
I wouldn't mind the misconceptions embedded in tv and movies so much if most of the population was better educated about alcohol and alcoholism.
l totally agree, the media needs to help the general public understand what alcoholism is to reduce stigma and sterio-typing attached to the disease.
The cartoon writers (although l didn't see the episode) need to be mindful and think carefully before writing "emotionally charged" episodes.
Though no-one can go make and make a new start,
anyone can start from now and make a new ending.
Carl Bard.
I wouldn't mind the misconceptions embedded in tv and movies so much if most of the population was better educated about alcohol and alcoholism.
l totally agree, the media needs to help the general public understand what alcoholism is to reduce stigma and sterio-typing attached to the disease.
The cartoon writers (although l didn't see the episode) need to be mindful and think carefully before writing "emotionally charged" episodes.
Though no-one can go make and make a new start,
anyone can start from now and make a new ending.
Carl Bard.
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odd man out....
I may regret this LOL
I agree the media is not very responsible in it's portrayal of drinking...and is woefully ignorant about alcoholism - I've just about given up on my TV as an educational tool.
but Family Guy? it's whole point is to 'go there' and to not do it responsibly, surely?
As I see it, it's satire - things are routinely resolved in ways that irritate our sense of what's right...not just for humour (whatever you might think of the quality) but also in order (I hope) to make us think about the subjects involved - and...objective reached here, I think.
FG has no basis in reality - characters die and come back to life - are horribly injured and emerged unscathed in the next scene...the dog talks (and is also an alcoholic)...
if I tried to apply the 'lessons' on Family Guy to my own life I'd be leading a pretty sick and twisted life....
D
I agree the media is not very responsible in it's portrayal of drinking...and is woefully ignorant about alcoholism - I've just about given up on my TV as an educational tool.
but Family Guy? it's whole point is to 'go there' and to not do it responsibly, surely?
As I see it, it's satire - things are routinely resolved in ways that irritate our sense of what's right...not just for humour (whatever you might think of the quality) but also in order (I hope) to make us think about the subjects involved - and...objective reached here, I think.
FG has no basis in reality - characters die and come back to life - are horribly injured and emerged unscathed in the next scene...the dog talks (and is also an alcoholic)...
if I tried to apply the 'lessons' on Family Guy to my own life I'd be leading a pretty sick and twisted life....
D
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You're entitled to feel defensive
I haven't seen the episode so I really shouldn't have commented, J...but it seems to me a little like using Mork and Mindy for a text book on interplanetary lifeforms LOL
D
I haven't seen the episode so I really shouldn't have commented, J...but it seems to me a little like using Mork and Mindy for a text book on interplanetary lifeforms LOL
D
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I'm with Dee on this...I don't think the entertainment industry has a single bit of obligation to also be responsible and educate the general public.
Isn't Family Guy a cartoon, anyway? It's not real, it's a cartoon for ****'s sake. Made up. Not real. If the TV-watching public is so uncritical, gullible and so easily swayed by the actions of cartoon figures, sit coms, "reality TV", sports stars, advertisments and the like, then they have a larger problem as a whole than is fixable by public service messages being inserted into everything they consume. (In media parlance, viewers are consumers, what does that tell you.)
I don't have a TV either, it's been years since I had one, by choice. Didn't grow up with TV either. I am quite well able to think fairly critically and know the difference between entertainment and educational content when I consume, err, watch something.
//hot button issue, sorry.
Isn't Family Guy a cartoon, anyway? It's not real, it's a cartoon for ****'s sake. Made up. Not real. If the TV-watching public is so uncritical, gullible and so easily swayed by the actions of cartoon figures, sit coms, "reality TV", sports stars, advertisments and the like, then they have a larger problem as a whole than is fixable by public service messages being inserted into everything they consume. (In media parlance, viewers are consumers, what does that tell you.)
I don't have a TV either, it's been years since I had one, by choice.
Didn't grow up with TV either. I am quite well able to think fairly critically and know the difference between entertainment and educational content when I consume, err, watch something.//hot button issue, sorry.
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Yeah, I might think something is in poor taste or a bad idea, but people have a right to be wrong. Free speech and all that.
I tend to agree with Dee that the media isn't to blame for any particular social ills--it gives the public what they want. I think it reflects society more than it influences society.
Guess that's sort of a political/philosophical stance. Stuff like that turns me off, too.
I tend to agree with Dee that the media isn't to blame for any particular social ills--it gives the public what they want. I think it reflects society more than it influences society.
Guess that's sort of a political/philosophical stance. Stuff like that turns me off, too.
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Moderation is the key to drinking safely. I agree with that completely. The problem is some people (ME) can not drink moderately. If you read the Dr's opinion, we have an abnormal reaction to alcohol. When I drink, my body actually craves more and more and more. Like I've said before, it's much easier for me to have 0 drinks than it is 3. That's not because I'm weak, or evil, or irresponsible, etc. it's because I'm an alcoholic.
So, do I agree that moderating your alcohol is better than binging? Yes! Do I believe that once you are an alcoholic this knowledge will allow us to moderate? HELL NO! Knowledge of moderation means nothing when it comes to an alcoholic and alcohol. It's a flawed argument in my opinion. The people that most need to moderate their alcohol, simply can't... Would we ask crack addicts to moderate their crack? What about heroin addicts, should we just tell them to shoot up responsibly?
So, do I agree that moderating your alcohol is better than binging? Yes! Do I believe that once you are an alcoholic this knowledge will allow us to moderate? HELL NO! Knowledge of moderation means nothing when it comes to an alcoholic and alcohol. It's a flawed argument in my opinion. The people that most need to moderate their alcohol, simply can't... Would we ask crack addicts to moderate their crack? What about heroin addicts, should we just tell them to shoot up responsibly?
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Dee, I think it's a very satirical show. They poke at things I haven't even bothered to mention here.
You can underline the idea that it's a TV show - and a cartoon at that - all you like, but that's a waste of your time. I already did that. I'm not asking media to be nicer or to cater to my preferences (I'll turn them off, just as I do when I am not feeling tolerant about this website, which is getting frequent.)
What I am trying to do is take a topic I extracted from that episode that is very easily relevant to people here. The topic is moderation and how it is not thought to be the answer for people like us. The topic could have come up from any source. I just told the truth about what got me thinking about it.
The threads that I start, which are few, seldom have much popularity to them, and you certainly point out why that should be the case.
You can underline the idea that it's a TV show - and a cartoon at that - all you like, but that's a waste of your time. I already did that. I'm not asking media to be nicer or to cater to my preferences (I'll turn them off, just as I do when I am not feeling tolerant about this website, which is getting frequent.)
What I am trying to do is take a topic I extracted from that episode that is very easily relevant to people here. The topic is moderation and how it is not thought to be the answer for people like us. The topic could have come up from any source. I just told the truth about what got me thinking about it.
The threads that I start, which are few, seldom have much popularity to them, and you certainly point out why that should be the case.
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Originally Posted by Dee74 
I haven't seen the episode so I really shouldn't have commented, J...but it seems to me a little like using Mork and Mindy for a text book on interplanetary lifeforms LOL
D
But seriously, I know that in the US there has been some attempt to model positive health behaviors using tv and the movies. I think the Centers for Disease Control or Surgeon General have worked on things like smoking and responsible sexual behavior. Alcohol is trickier, since some people have an inborn predisposition to alcoholism while others don't have a problem.
Interesting thread--thanks!
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I certainly did not mean to belittle demean or otherwise disparage anyones feelings or opinions - just expressing mine, which is what we're here for - and opinions btw which are no better or greater than anyone elses here.
I can also be wrong from time to time
I'll go back to modding now
D
I can also be wrong from time to time
I'll go back to modding now
D
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I haven't seen too many episodes of "Family Guy" but what I have seen has been some of the most asinine and least intelligent "adult humor" I've ever encountered. The idea that such a poor excuse for entertainment is in any way influential is horrifying to me.
That said, I don't necessarily believe that entertainers have a moral obligation to educate the public about important issues. The general public have an obligation to be well-informed, and to do this takes some degree of pro-activeness on the part of that public's individual members. We, as alcoholics and addicts, have an obligation to understand the nature of our diseases and the predicaments they might put us in, and act accordingly. Some unknown percentage of uninformed idiots in the general public who get their ideas about the morality of drinking from cartoons shouldn't concern us.
That said, I don't necessarily believe that entertainers have a moral obligation to educate the public about important issues. The general public have an obligation to be well-informed, and to do this takes some degree of pro-activeness on the part of that public's individual members. We, as alcoholics and addicts, have an obligation to understand the nature of our diseases and the predicaments they might put us in, and act accordingly. Some unknown percentage of uninformed idiots in the general public who get their ideas about the morality of drinking from cartoons shouldn't concern us.
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