The Spectacular Now directed by James Ponsoldt is quite an interesting coming-of-age film. The thing that sets this film apart from many other films in the genre is the focus on teenage alcoholism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The film focuses on protagonist Sutter Keely, a laid-back and charismatic high school student who everyone knows as a party animal. From the beginning of the film, it is evident that Sutter has a growing addiction to alcohol. In fact, the very first scene of the film shows Sutter drinking a bottle of beer while trying to write a late essay for a college application. Upset after being broken up by his girlfriend, Sutter gets drunk and is awakened on a stranger's lawn by Aimee Finecky. Aimee is very different from Sutter; she is a quiet and shy bookworm who is a less popular student at Sutter's school. While Aimee has promising plans for her future, Sutter is stuck in the deception of the "spectacular now." Sutter begins spending time with Aimee in hopes of being able to bring her out of her shell, but falls in love with her in the process. Sutter actually helps Aimee gain confidence, however, she also begins drinking with him. Ultimately, Sutter's addiction to alcohol begins to blossom as different events in his life begin to unfold. Throughout the film's scenes, it becomes evident that Sutter's addiction can be viewed in its biological, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions. These five dimensions are the essence of the Bio-Psycho-Social Plus (BPS+) model presented by Herie and Skinner (2014). The biological dimension of the BPS+ model focuses on addiction as a deviation from proper brain and body functioning. He views addiction as a cause of chemical imbalances in the brain or as a kind of hereditary brain disease. The effects of alcohol are psychoactive. According to Herie and Skinner (2010) in Substance Abuse in Canada, "alcohol acts on the brain's neurons, the cells that communicate with other parts of the brain, the spine, and peripheral nerves." Alcohol is considered a depressant and therefore slows down communication between neurons and leads to unusual behaviors. Additionally, alcohol acts on the part of the brain that controls consciousness, the cerebellum which controls coordination, the hippocampus which controls memory and the frontal lobes which control judgment and emotions. Additionally, Gabor Maté (2008), in The Realm of Hungry Ghosts, states that "in a study of alcoholics, opioid receptor activity was decreased in several brain regions, which was associated with increased need alcohol.” All of these elements are evident in The Spectacular Now through Sutter's characterization. As mentioned, Sutter passes out on a stranger's lawn after a night of too much drinking. This is proof of the alteration of his consciousness. Sutter's coordination is impaired as he drives after drinking several times throughout the film and swerves through alleys and crashes into a pole in front of his house. Sutter's memory, judgment, and emotions are impaired because he forgets where his car is when he is found passed out on the lawn. They are also affected when he kisses Aimée at a party and tells her he will take her to the prom but forgets about it until the next morning when everything slowly begins to come back to him. In addition to Sutter's impaired brain and behavioral functioning, his dependence on alcoholcan be considered a hereditary brain disease. For most of the film, Sutter's father is completely irrelevant. He lives alone with his single mother who works a lot to try to make ends meet. The absence of this parental contact, both in his childhood and in his adolescence, makes him more vulnerable to addiction since he consumes alcohol to try to compensate for what his brain is missing. Sutter makes a comment quite near the beginning of the film stating that his first beer was given to him at the age of six by his father. Although Sutter has a great interest in meeting his father, his mother does not allow him to make contact with him. Eventually, after being influenced by Aimee to stand up to her mother and make her own decisions, Sutter visits his sister who gives him their father's number and address. Sutter calls his father and makes arrangements to see him and Aimee. When they arrive there, Sutter's father does not seem to remember that he has made arrangements to meet his son. That's when it becomes clear that Sutter's father is drunk. This becomes even more apparent when he suggests Sutter meet him at a bar down the street for a drink. Arriving there, they drink three pitchers of beer. Not only is it obvious that Sutter's father suffers from an alcohol addiction, but it also becomes clear that he is addicted to tobacco since he has a cigarette in his mouth most of the time he appears in the movie. From the biological dimension of the BPS+ model, given that Sutter was exposed to his father's drinking from an early age as well as his father's clearly persistent addictions, Sutter developed a predisposition and a more high susceptibility to addiction. This may also relate to Aimée whose parents, as we discover throughout the film, also suffer from addictions. Her mother suffers from a gambling addiction, which becomes evident through Aimee's dialogue about how she gives up her reporting duties and leaves Aimee and her brother to fend for themselves so she can go to the casino every evenings. Aimee also briefly mentions that her father died from his addiction to painkillers. That being said, Aimee's obvious and growing addiction to alcohol could be caused by a legacy of addictive qualities. Aimee and Sutter's legacy of addiction can be linked to Marine Woodrow's chapter in Crozier and Lane's Addicted. Woodrow mentions that after living with her father's alcoholism throughout her childhood, she began to develop an addiction to it as an adult. Ultimately, alcohol disrupts self-regulation, necessary to choose not to become addicted, and therefore makes Sutter and Aimee more vulnerable to alcohol addiction. The psychological dimension of the BPS+ addiction model focuses on the state of mind in a way that emphasizes the drives and motivations that cause a person to engage in a particular behavior. This dimension also focuses on external rewards and punishments that could maintain and shape behaviors as well as disinhibit them. The psychological dimension focuses on the addictive personality that develops from a person's stress. Maté (2008) states that “stress is a major cause of ongoing drug dependence.” Herie and Skinner (2010) state that some psychological effects that may motivate a person to drink include "mild euphoria, increased confidence and relaxation, and decreased inhibitions." We see plenty of evidence of these factors in Sutter and Aimee throughout the film. It becomes apparent throughout the film that what drivesStruggling to drink is the pain of the many events that occur throughout one's life. It's clear that Sutter is drinking to escape thoughts of his girlfriend breaking up with him. In fact, Sutter goes straight to a bar after the incident and gets drunk. Additionally, we often see Sutter drinking as a way to build his confidence, relax, and feel better about himself. This is made clear when his ex-girlfriend gets mad at him for always being drunk and unable to be serious, especially when thinking about the future. Aimee also uses alcohol to boost her self-confidence because she is afraid to stand up to her mother who imposes a lot of responsibilities on her as well as her best friend who is always on the back of her personal life decisions, such as going out. with Sutter. Additionally, stress plays a significant role in Sutter's life and therefore makes him more vulnerable to his alcohol addiction. It's obvious that much of Sutter's stress comes from living most of his life without a father figure. He spent much of his life thinking about his father and when he met him, it was not the outcome he expected. Although he consumes alcohol in an attempt to hide it, Sutter is also clearly stressed about his future. When all of his classmates are accepted into colleges, Sutter can't even bring himself to write an essay for his application. Towards the end of the film, we learn that Sutter is afraid of failure, of letting people down, of hurting people and also of hurting himself. His desire to drink therefore comes from the fact that he wants to hide these feelings to protect himself. Another aspect of the psychological dimension of the BPS+ model is Sutter's increasing tolerance for alcohol. This is evident when he makes Aimée try the alcohol in his flask and she almost spits it out. When she asks Sutter how he drinks it so easily, his response is that he's used to it. Therefore, as the film progresses, he requires more and more alcohol to feel the psychological benefits. Sutter also loses his job near the end of the film when his boss gives him the ultimatum to either continue working or stop coming to work drunk or drinking on the job. Sutter declines the offer because he admits that he is not capable of doing it and therefore finds himself without a job. The social dimension of the BPS+ addiction model focuses on the influences of the people and environment around the addict. This dimension also emphasizes behaviors that are modeled and valued, as well as behaviors that become normalized and legalized in society. How specific behaviors are encouraged can also have a direct impact on an addict, as they become more susceptible to them. Social and environmental factors have a great influence on the nature and rate of substance use and abuse. In The Spectacular Now, much of Sutter's drinking takes place in a social context. He is actually considered the party man by many of his classmates and seems to be well known for procuring and supplying them with alcohol. As David Nutt says in Drugs Without the Hot Air, “the widespread availability and social acceptability of alcohol makes addiction more likely.” Near the beginning of the film, Sutter opens his trunk and reveals a cooler filled with beer cans. He also always carries a flask filled with alcohol in his pocket, revealing the availability of alcohol to him. The elements of the social dimension could also be related to Sutter's childhood, where he experienced his father's drinking and therefore continued this behavior by modeling it. This dimension can also apply to Aimee.