Media Representation Reflection Paper free essay sample

The representations of drug users in the shows â€Å"Breaking Bad† and â€Å"It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia† show the stereotypes of the modern day drug users from two different genre perspectives. In â€Å"Breaking Bad†, the show uses a dramatic up-front approach to show the horrors of meth use. It portrays the meth addicted parents as horrible degenerates of society. All they are focused on are drugs and how to acquire their next fix. The main female character in the episode is a meth addicted mother that experiences a role conflict when she has to decide to either take care of her son or cater to her addiction. The episode shows a highly graphic portrayal of the insanity of addiction. As the couple fights, chooses drugs over their child, and eventually the woman kills her partner and steals his drugs. On the other side of the equation the episode portrays, Jesse, one of the shows main characters as a sympathetic figure. We will write a custom essay sample on Media Representation Reflection Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He is a drug dealer that is getting a revenge on the two customers that robbed him of an ounce of methamphetamine. Upon entering the ram shackled house he stumbles upon a child living in horrible conditions. He feeds the child and takes care of him until the two meth addicted parents show up. Although he uses strong language with them and threatens them with a gun, I always felt like he was the â€Å"good† guy in the situations. That is because the episode shows his depth of character and his compassion towards the child. He is also caught up in a role conflict as he is supposed to be a badass drug dealer with no conscience but he also is a human being with morals. He ends up calling the cops and putting the child outside which I assume saves the child. We see him as the hero in the show. In â€Å"Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia†, the show uses a comedic slant to stereotype crack use and poverty in general. It portrays drug users as lazy, homeless people that are living off the government. Ignoring responsibility and getting high in the middle of the afternoon. It is a highly generalized depiction that exploits a serious issue for comedic value. Crackheads have almost become a comedic meme in society today. Their behavior is so off the wall and shocking that as a society as a whole we choose to deal with it with humor. Both of the shows portrayals of drug use represent that social construction of the drug addict in modern society. This depiction is based on the hardcore addicts living in rock bottom addiction. In my addiction I showed some of the characteristics shown in the shows and I know many people who also fell into this description. Although it does use the worst addicts to describe addiction in general, I feel like Breaking Bad does an honest job of showing the shocking disease of meth addiction. I feel like â€Å"It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia† is more of a biased approach and really undermines the seriousness of the issue. It is a comedy show, however, and it delivers as a hilarious episode. The perception I had growing up and mainstream society still has of an addict is one that permeates throughout these shows. In my opinion drugs should be legalized and harm reduction should be the new frontier of the drug issue. The media, however, perpetuates fear in their portrayal of addiction using all genres and keeps the mainstream public in the dark about the real issues. It keeps the prohibition line of thinking as the prevailing solution for drug use and keeps the drug war going.