Social imaginaries of addictions in series: representations of hypermodernity

This article briefly introduces a historicization of drug use, from the rituals of Antiquity to hypermodernity,
a time characterized by hyper-individualism and the fall of ideals, where drug use appears
related to an individual experience and alienation. Faced with the exponential increase in drug use
in recent decades, we wonder about the characteristics of substance consumption and what are
the social imaginaries about this problem, that is, how society understands this use. One of the
privileged ways to access these social imaginaries is through cultural products such as literature,
cinema or series. Considering that series are gradually replacing television as privileged forms of
consumption by thousands of daily viewers through online platforms, we are interested in studying
the representation of drug use that is made in current series. The analysis panorama includes
the representation of “hard” drugs in the characterization of anti-heroic characters and in young
characters from narratives of the coming-of-age genre, as well as in iconic series that showed the
world of drugs such as The Wire. Also included is the analysis of problematic alcohol consumption
in university professors and addiction to other drugs such as opioids. This complex kaleidoscope
allows us to understand the coordinates of current consumption, which do not always imply an
addiction, but which in all cases imply different degrees of suffering.