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When drugs are no longer cool. Coming-of-age narratives on addiction from Skins to Euphoria

abstract

Introduction: Television series can act as one of the primary sources of information on addiction.
However, research on the accurate representation of addiction concerning its clinical and
social reality is still lacking, mainly because it requires an interdisciplinary approach with higher
complexity. Methods: this article aims to analyze the narrative depiction of drug addiction
through two TV series case studies: Euphoria (Levinson et al., 2017-2021) and Skins (Elsley
et al., 2013-2017). Moreover, it intends to identify which stereotypes are still predominant
on-screen. Results: current TV series try to opt for better representations. Discussion: the
perpetuation of misconceptions and misrepresentations is still due to a tension between
showing realistic, educational values (edutainment) and opting for a gripping audio-visual and
narrative drama. Finally, the TV series criticizes how the responsibility for the recovery is
placed on the persona rather than the system.

Keywords:

TV series; drugs; addiction; social representation; coming-of-age.

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Authors

Marta Lopera-Mármol - Universidad Pompeu Fabra
Manel Jiménez-Morales - Universidad Pompeu Fabra