Clean and Sober - Essay Example

Clean and Sober is a fascinating exploration of issues relating to addiction. It provides real insight into the lives of addicts and the problems and hurdles they must overcome in order to retake their lives. Throughout the movie, these issues are unstintingly shown to the viewer. We are made to empathize with people whose lives have gone far off track. After watching this film, it is clear that addiction is an issue that hides in the shadows and is something we must work hard to bring out into the light of day.

Throughout the film Clean and Sober a number of characters use illegal drugs. This is rarely in a recreational manner. In fact, for addicts it is clear that their use of drugs has dominated their lives and is dramatically affecting how they perform their day to day activities as well as the most important relationships in their lives (Blum, 2). For Daryl, it is clear he needs cocaine in order to go about his daily business. He meets a woman in a bar and does cocaine with her. It is evident that this is the only way he can have relationships with people, the only thing that makes his life worth living. It consumes his thoughts. He wants friends to send him cocaine, he wants cocaine to be the biggest part of his life. He has no real esteem from his work, only from the drugs he uses. The same is true of Charlie, who is also addicted. You can see how small her life has become because of her addiction and how trapped she is in the vicious circle that is her dependence. Not only does it harm you physically, but it brings into your life people who have a very negative impact. Her husband is abusive and life with him is like riding a roller-coaster. She is made very vulnerable by her addiction and is easy to exploit. Daryl is a little different in that he is exploited by himself, not by others. He does serious damage to his career by stealing and is a very difficult person to control.

A serious problem relating to addiction is that it affects the way you behave. You become irresponsible and disinhibited. You don't know why you do the things you do, you just do them. This often has serious consequences and often leads to a downward spiral. All that really separates us from the animals is our sense of cause and effect: if we are disinhibited we no longer care about what happens because of what we do. In the film, this is evident at several moments. One of the most significant is near the beginning when Daryl realizes the girl in his bed has had a heart attack. He tries to hide the evidence of drug use, an act that reveals how disinhibited he is. He should simply take responsibility for his actions and tell the police the truth. Another example is how he embezzles nearly one hundred thousand dollars from his employer. This action has severe consequences but he doesn't seem to care at the time. He can't think through from one step to the next.

It is clear that addiction is a serious social problem that affects many people. The rehab center is proof of this. The relationships between Charlie and her husband are definitely evidence of this. Their co-dependency is a perfect illustration of how addiction can be a social disease (Lawson, 12). Both of these two people reinforce one another's addiction, making things much worse for both of them. People with this kind of addiction need real professional help (Boyd, 20).

Each of the characters in this film has roles to play. Daryl is clearly the self-destructive type, who has trouble realizing the consequences of his actions. He is facing down a lot of demons. Richard is the wise therapist figure who has seen it all. He is very supportive, the kind of person an addict comes to for help. Charlie and her husband are co-dependents who are destroying one another. Each of these roles interacts in the film in interesting ways. For example, we Daryl sliding into Richard's role with regards to Charlie. In a sense, he is becoming her counselor, trying to break the cycle of dependence she shares with her husband.

The treatment process for all of these people is far from perfect. There is no magic bullet treatment for addiction. So much depends on what the addict wants to do. As the old saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.” The movie illustrates this well. It also shows that some days are better than others. Whether Daryl will be clean and sober a month from the end of the program is an open question. One wonders whether addicts can ever be cured, or if their addictions can only be managed.