Lights, Camera, Drink!

Old School, The Hangover, American Pie, Beerfest, Animal House. . . These were all listed in the top ten binge drinking movies of all time.  Which one do you think received the number one spot?  It’s no surprise that The Hangover is the number one binge drinking movie, according to the daily top 10 website.  It’s very popular and many people that have seen it love it.  Just a week ago the second installment of this film was released at the box office.  Entertainment Tonight said it was number one for the weekend and it brought in about $137.4 million. 

(tvtuc.com)

The Hangover and the others mentioned have all become popular among the younger crowd.  Why is this?  Because it shows binge drinking as fun, exciting, entertaining, and reasonably harmless.  All of these movies, except The Hangover, target teens and young adults directly.  They all show high school and college age students drinking at parties and having the time of their life.  It shows freedom and rebellion without little or no consequences.  There is always a happy ending and the geeky boy gets the hottest girl.  It’s the perfect way to show binge drinking and a good light and make students think that they will have the same exhilarating experience. 

Reality is never like the movies.  As much as we want happy endings, the movies fabricate what really occurs during nights of binge drinking.  If The Hangover really happened, one of the characters would have most likely died from alcohol poisoning or the drugs unintentionally taken.  Movie makers would never put death in an over the top comedy such as this.  They want viewers to be happy and laugh at every scene, not shocked and upset.  Portraying drinking as a good and positive thing gives teens and young adults the wrong impression.  They don’t realize until something bad happens that binge drinking is dangerous.  These comedic movies, although entertaining, are teaching the wrong ideas about drinking to all ages, but especially young people.