The Influence of Addiction : How Should Directors Approach The Making of Films Containing Teenage Substance Abuse – Seminar in Academic Inquiry and Writing Spring 2026 (16)

Film is designed to bring awareness to events and feelings, but where do we draw the line ? The broadcasting of public addiction shown in a positive light is damaging to the developing brain of teenagers and young adults. romanticizing the challenges of drug abuse portrays the image that addiction isn’t a serious issue. Films similar to Nima Nourizadeh’s Project X (2012) are troubling because the viewer does not get an accurate depiction of the symptoms that affect the mind and body afterwards, therefore proving this media should not be targeted towards teenagers. More realistic portrayals that show how damaging teenage drug abuse can be are films like Jetty Schatzberg’s The Panic in Needle Park (1971) or Sam Levinson’s Euphoria (2019). Even though people do abuse substances, they also face struggles and these directors show exemplary performances of that without trying to make this issue seem less severe. Only magnifying the ‘good feeling’ of being on drugs should not be promoted to teenagers who are consuming this media and instead this research is to encourage directors to advertise more accuracy in their films.

As someone who attended an arts school, many of my peers and I were tasked with the assignments to study and analyze films of all genres. Based on my experiences, watching films that praised drug abuse enticed the teenagers around me to try drugs as well. This encouraged my interest into researching how these films can influence teenage brains. First we must explore the theories surrounding the brain development of young minds.

Increasing Productions of Teen Films Showing Substance Use

Many studies have been conducted to show the relation between the influence of watching films that exalt drug use and the development of teenage minds. Researchers publishing in Addiction research & Theory conducted a study to share their research findings. The results of the analysis showed that films commonly use substances, promote consequence free, and socially approved mindsets. This form of entertainment is popular among teenagers and provides images that teens model behaviors and form attitudes from (Callister et al. pp 30-41, 2012).

This same theory has been used in a study entitled “Media/Marketing Influences on Adolescent and Young Adult Substance Abuse.” This article explores the sponsorship of the alcohol industry using films and media to target young teenagers.

It has long been recognized that the tobacco industry targets youth, and it might be argued that the alcohol industry does the same, in the form of paid placements of products in films, television, and video games that are popular among youth […] Marketing and media smoking content portrays themes that are appealing to youth such as glamour, independence, rebelliousness, romance, socializing, and celebrating; the negative health outcomes of smoking are rarely depicted.

– Jackson et al. pp 146-157, 2018.

There are many studies out there that compare the production of films that are centred around teenage substance use with no consequences and the rate of increasing addictions forming in teens. It is crucial to monitor the consumption of inaccurate media from mentally developing young adults, as their brains are more likely to be easily influenced into what the film media portrays as “cool”.

Films That Encourage Moving Stories and Accurate Representation

Realistically directors are always going to produce films that include negative behaviors, such as substance abuse. It is impactful to films and story telling. However, the point of this post is to bring attention to the research investigating the importance of not glorifying substance use with no consequences. A website entitled “6 Realistic Movies About Addiction”, found acceptable and accurate movies to share with young minds that want to better understand what people who face addiction struggle with or people who just like to consume ‘coming of age drama’ films, like myself.

Movies can sometimes reflect aspects of our real lives on the big screen. When a movie achieves a sense of realism, the audience can feel understood or inspired. Making realistic movies about addiction can be difficult. Symptoms of substance use may be trivialized, exaggerated, or glamorized. These kinds of portrayals can stigmatize SUDs (substance use disorder ) and drive those struggling further away from addiction treatment.

– Murray 2021.

Two films I would like to highlight for the amazing representation and performances are : Felix Van Groeningen’s Beautiful Boy (2018) and the number one show streamed on HBO in 2022, Euphoria. What makes Euphoria different from other films is the director’s ability to show that teenage drug use in not uncommon, and that’s the issue. In the show viewers see the ‘Euphoric’ feelings the characters get from drug use (hints the title name), but the show also does not fail to show the treatments and distasteful side of addiction making the show more understandable for teenagers to watch and understand how addiction works in the real world.

In a published piece titled, “What Euphoria Gets Right—and Wrong—About Teen Drug Use and Addiction”, Tara Law argues substance abuse numbers are growing by saying, “But drug use is not uncommon among high school students today. In the U.S., about 1.6 million kids ages 12 to 17—6.3% of the adolescent population—had substance use disorder in 2020, according to the ‘Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’. The problem seems to be growing too, in 2020 millions more kids tried drugs for the first time” (Law n.p., 2022). The article also captures words from Dr. Lynn Fiellin, a professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and Child Study Center. She is an addiction medicine and behavioral health professional and a big fan of the show, Fiellin shares her thoughts by saying, “That’s a huge problem and Euphoria depicts exactly what is going on” (Fiellin qtd. in Law n.p., 2022). As Dr. Fiellin talks about, drug use within curious teens is growing and leading towards addiction and even overdoses; it is important to not censor the truth of addiction but rather promote films to show the problem entirely.

Real Conversations: The actors Takes

Actors have taken a stand in the conversations surrounding this topic and why they take on these roles. While they don’t condone the overuse or harm of substance abuse, they rather take on these roles to show the real rollercoaster that people struggling with drug use face. They want people to feel a sense of connection and understanding that reaching out to get help at any stage is always an option. For example, Timotheé Chalamet recounts how he felt after taking on his role inspired by the real life of Nic Sheff in an interview for the Hollywood Reporter.

“Drug addiction, their addiction is the biggest killer in the United States right now, it’s over fifty thousand people a year die from this. That’s more than automobile crashes, it’s more than gun violence, it’s more than both of those combined […] with people my age there could be like a glorification of it too, and kind of like a martyrdom, like “yeah I’m destroying myself it’s my right” and that’s really sad. I feel a real responsibility, not in a fake way or in a facetious way and not to be like inspiring, but to point some way forward and beautiful boy the irony of that movie is it’s not like the most uplifting movie in the world but at least there’s a redemptive value. Okay here’s a story that maybe doesn’t get honored all the time and spoilers but that Nick survives, you know, that he made it through. There were four relapses in the movie he had 13 in real life and now he’s eight years sober”

– Chalamet. 0:14, 2018

Beautiful Boy and Euphoria are just some of the films that took a step in the direction of prevention and provided viewers with a message giving the outreach information to substance abuse hotlines and websites. To further speak out for the community of actors and actresses facing backlash for their roles in popular films, Zendaya gives her thoughts in an article titled, “Zendaya Responds To Criticism That Euphoria ‘Glorifies’ Teen Drug & Alcohol Use.”

our show is in no way a moral tale to teach people how to live their life or what they should be doing, if anything the feeling behind euphoria we have always been trying to do with it is to hopefully help people feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain, and maybe feel like they’re not the only one going through or dealing with what they’re dealing with. I feel incredibly honored to portray her and I also feel incredibly honored to every person who I feel is connected to her story for whatever reason whether it be their sobriety journey or, you know, their mental health; whatever it is that they feel has caused their connection to her and I feel an incredible sense of responsibility to those people as well.

Zendaya. 0:18, 2022

Conclusion

Every teenager is different and can respond differently when subjected to influential media. The purpose of this post is to provide you with research, making you aware of the effects that consuming inaccurate films can have on the developing brain. I am suggesting that parents monitor the media that is promoted towards their children and that teenagers research the credibility and accuracy before believing what is shown on television.

Film makers and directors who still choose to produce films with inaccurate representation should make disclaimers very clearly stated in the beginning of the film, that the substance abuse following is not condoned and can have very serious side effects on the body.

Entertainment media is very widely consumed and has a large impact on the population, leading to heavy conversations about this topic. This is not a manual on how to parent, but merely an informational resource. Film is such a great thing and a powerful platform if used correctly. We should continue supporting the industry and encourage everybody to be involved in the art and the social issues that it depicts.

Sources

Callister, Mark, et al. “‘Three Sheets to the Wind’: Substance Use in Teen-Centered Film from 1980 to 2007.” Addiction Research & Theory, vol. 20, no. 1, Feb. 2012, 69733424, pp. 30–41. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.3109/16066359.2011.552818.

Jackson, K.M., Janssen, T. & Gabrielli, J. Media/Marketing Influences on Adolescent and Young Adult Substance Abuse. Curr Addict Rep 5, 146–157 (2018). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40429-018-0199-6

Law, Tara. “What ‘Euphoria’ Gets Right—and Wrong—About Teen Drug Use.” TIME, 28 Feb. 2022, https://time.com/6152502/euphoria-hbo-teenage-drug-use/.

Murray, Emily. “6 Realistic Movies About Addiction.” Addiction Center, Recovery Worldwide, LLC, 19 Aug. 2021, https://www.addictioncenter.com/community/6-realistic-movies-about-addiction/.

Roberts, Donald F., et al. Substance Use in Popular Movies and Music. Apr. 1999. ERIC, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED449404.pdf

Sheff, Nic. Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2008. Originally published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

The actors academy . Timotheé Chalamet Talks TRUTHFULLY About A Beautiful Boy, 15 Dec. 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=Z9qmjE0OTA7CYsrT&v=c4Qv4kSzXLM&feature=youtu.be.

“Zendaya Responds to D.A.R.E. Claiming Euphoria “Glorifies” Teen Drug and Alcohol Use” | Access Hollywood. 2022., https://www.accessonline.com/videos/zendaya-responds-to-d-a-r-e-claiming-euphoria-glorifies-teen-drug-and-alcohol-use.