Portraying Dollie Drug Use?

I think it will be an interesting read. I always have a thing for drug related stories. Not that I'm an addict! It's just that I'm curious to see what's on that 'world'.

 

If you have a doll with that kind of personality then I don't see it as being a bad thing. Certain personalities lead to certain things, and if it fits, then so be it. As long as it's not advertised or rubbed in peoples faces like 'HEY MY BJD IS A DRUGGIE GAIS!!11!1!' for the sake of trying to be 'cool and unique' for whatever reason. I say, as long as it fits in well with the personality of the doll, it's fine. Aaaand yes, I'm assuming photostories etc. are being posted on an 18+ board, so I won't touch on that.

 

I would totally read it, wouldn't make a bit of a difference when it comes to reading or not, and no; realism is what I love about BJDs, and that is a real facet of life for many, many people. ^__^

 

It doesn't bother me, really, as a lot of times, drug use is part of the character's history. And, as it's been brought up several times, drug use is unfortunately very, very common in real life.

I do think there is a difference though, if the drug use is something "casual" such as smoking, or even the occasional use of something like ecstasy, and an actual "addict", addicted to some of the hard stuff like cocaine or heroin, etc.

Not to say that you can't get addicted to smoking, etc, but nobody really says anything much about a person smoking, and it's something that sometimes has the unfortunate and inaccurate stigma of being "cool". Addiction is something really ugly. I've known people that have been addicted and have gone through the torturous and extremely difficult process of detoxing and remaining sober, and it's a really scary thing.

I have no problem with someone wanting to portray that. Maybe their doll's character went through this process or is battling with a current addiction. That's fine. I just think that if someone is going to do that then they should do their research. On the flip side, if someone's doll smokes because he/she (the doll) thinks it's cool and that's their personality, then that's okay too. People do stupid things for stupid reasons.

Does portrayal of drug use bother me or would it discourage me from reading a particular photostory? Not really. Depending on my mood, I might pass it over if I want to read something happier, but I've read a lot of really good stories that depict drug use and abuse and its consequences.

But as always, please do so on an appropriately 18+ board! Make it at least a little harder for the still-quite-impressionable-minors to get to it.

 

I don't see a problem with it. People use their dolls sometimes to represent characters they've created. I've created characters with all kinds of problems. One character in a story I've been writing for quite some time (whom I actually have a custom figure of and may get as a BJD one day) is a guy who was abused as a child. As a teenager he experimented with drugs. He also was a chain smoker for a while. I have wrote about that.

Now, if I had him as a doll I wouldn't have him like that. Nowadays he's fine and not doing anything like that. I'd have the doll representing his current self, so a doll wouldn't show any drug use.

But showing it in a doll photo story, ultimately, isn't much different from writing about it in words. So that's why I don't see it as bad. You just would only want to show it in an age appropriate setting.

 

I wouldn't be bothered coz it is what really is happening in real life, well some of it. And it's their doll, they can do what they want w/ it. But i would be bothered if it depicts a step by step guide on how to use drugs. Now that is bothersome and should be removed.

 

Perfection drives me mad. It's the flaws that I love most. A doll addicted to drugs only makes them all the more appealing. Life has things that make us turn to things like drugs. It's in the world and it's for a reason.
Honestly I have five people I consider my Heros. Two of those people have gotten over drug and alchohol addiction, and that's one reason I look up to them.
It makes it more real in my life.

 

I think provided that you approach difficult subjects with sensitivity and the awareness that your portrayal may affect viewers on a personal level then it's okay to show darker subjects.

 

I think this is more of a character thing than a "too hot for BJD."

If for whatever reason, your doll seems to have some kind of addiction, whatever it might be, then I don't think it's so bad. However, I think it might be a bit self-indulgent to make a character and a doll just for that.

If the content was on a "proper" board, then yes, I would probably check it out.

 

For the most part, I don't think drug use in a photo story, or in fiction and stories in general, would bother me at all. It's bad, but there are plenty of other things that are bad but depicted in fiction too, like violence and such. Besides which, drug use is hardly glorified no matter the medium. If a photo story were depicting drug use as something positive and healthy, I'd think there was something pretty gonked XD .

However, there is one thing which will most likely bother me very much, to the point of resenting the photos and possibly even the person who posted them. Smoking cigarettes is something that I just can not easily accept.

I am, however, personally biased, because of the way it effects me personally. Nobody's died or gotten sick or anything (yet...) , but it's bothered me more and more and more for the past couple years, until just looking at people who smoke makes me dislike them and get a little upset inside.

But still, while I know everybody generally knows that smoking is bad for your health, and you shouldn't do it, blah blah, it's obvious that people take smoking less seriously than the 'hard drugs'. Most people don't even address it as an addiction, but as a 'habit', and I know that even though logically people know it's bad people still connect it to positive things such as 'coolness', 'rebel attitude', 'laid back I don't care attitude', etc.. It can have a tendency to be a little glorified. I just can't feel understanding for the depiction of smoking like this, even if no harm was meant... I've seen a couple pictures of dolls with cigarettes, and it just makes me feel sick and angry. So yeah, sometimes for some people this sort of thing bothers them.

It is just a doll, but I can't imagine someone thinking up the idea, liking it enough to obtain/make their own cigarette, then taking the time to get in their doll's hand/mouth, posing them, taking a picture, and posting it up. But again, I'm biased. Just looking at a cigarette makes me want to throw it to the ground, stamp on it, and yell at the person with it.

If it were a picture story depicting smoking in the way that I see it, I would probably find a personal connection instead of resentment. I haven't looked into too many picture stories yet, so I can't really say. And people who've had their own personal experiences with smoking or cigarettes obviously can express whatever they want about it. But it's just something that would bother me personally if people who don't think that it's a big deal or understand how it effects other people just did whatever and portrayed it in a casual light.

Smoking is a lot more prone to casual depiction than lots of other drugs, and that bothers me so much. My feelings are very strong in wishing that it would all just go away, and people would just get rid of it! ...I guess that may be a way of blaming the world for my personal problem, and wanting the world to fix it somehow. Which, if looked at that way, I guess it could be considered unfair and cowardly for me to get angry at something as harmless as a smoking doll photo.

People obviously don't have to bend to my will about what is or isn't acceptable for their doll, or their own opinions, this is just me sharing my personal feelings. But I think it would be nice for people to decide to depict things like this with a certain amount of respect for what it is, and how it may effect others. Not just cocaine, heroin, what have you, but smoking too.

Strangely enough, I don't have the same stigma against marijuana... I don't even mind if it were legalized. But I think tobacco should be illegalized. Maybe because MJ is not physically addictive, and actually has some practical uses. But most probably because MJ has not actually directly affected my life in any negative way ^^; . I don't feel comfortable with it either, but not... as much as smoking.

almyki

 

Well...that's a tricky one. I think it has the potential to be a "trendy" thing to do, kind of like how gruesome things like vampirism and gore are incredibly popular in the doll community. Some people might see it as an opportunity to be "edgy" and take things way too far (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about).

However, if it were handled in a mature, plausible, and ACCURATE way--I mean, I'm sure a doll wouldn't have a gorgeous babyface for long if he's hitting the speed (but I'm not sure I want to see a methface El, for example) it wouldn't bother me. I just don't want to see MORE Vampire Prince Fairy Goth Lolita Demon Angel Rockstar Superhero with Bonus Cokehead! Hard drugs and immature internet folks don't often mix that well, but that's more in practice than theory.

I'm totally for pothead dolls, though. Especially sleepy molds, haha.

 

This is such an interesting question. I am in two minds about the answer - I do have some sympathy with junkies in that addiction is an aggressive demon that is hard to kill but then again, nobody forces anyone to try drugs. I also think that drug dealers and those who profit from this misery are the scum of the earth and should be severely dealt with.
I've seen close up the effects of drug abuse, in my own family, but still, drugs are a reality of life so if someone wanted to portray that with their doll, I have no problem with that although I think it would be tasteless if they were merely glamourising drugs - like that bullsh*t "heroin chic" that was in fashion.

 

I think they would be cool to read on an age appropriate forum. Like... seeing them trying to cope with their addiction or stop doing whatever drug it is.

If it was a well written, thought out story it could be really good. But I'm sure they could end up getting really stupid sounding if you don't do it right. lol

 

I think it's understandable that someone would have harder feelings about things that directly affect them--it gives a different perspective. Having said that, people who do smoke have their own stories that you won't know if you aren't acquainted with them.

I'm going to make an educated guess (though I'm not sure if it's possible to know for sure, so bear with me )...

In the US in recent years, smoking has been taken a lot more seriously in the sense that the prices have been raised a good bit and more and more areas have smoking bans in bars and restaurants. However, I do agree that most people probably don't see cigarettes on the same level as hard drugs. This could possibly be partly cultural in that smoking has been common for a long time and that while it can be deadly, it's worst affects are often felt fairly far into the future--between a smoker who doesn't quit and a heroine addict, the heroine addict will probably meet a much faster end. Plus, people are able to smoke and lead productive lives, which is something that serious hard drug abuse tends to interfere with quite a bit. Does that mean smoking is ok? No, it is dangerous to one's health and can impact the people around you if you're indoors. However, the chain of events caused by smoking is not quite the same as other drugs.

I have dolls who smoke. It fits their characters, simple as that. Their characters are far from perfect people, because I can't relate to perfection. Having those kinds of foibles and vices make them more 'real'. Now I didn't have to make the smoke--it's possible to be a flawed human being without that, but I honestly felt that it fit some of them very well. I'm more interested in my characters being true to themselves than socially acceptable.

I did smoke briefly in college, and stopped because I wasn't willing to risk my health. Though I enjoyed smoking, it's not worth the price I would undoubtedly pay later in life. One of my good friends smokes and hasn't been able to quit yet. I hope for her sake she can, because it will prolong her life. However, that does not mean that it bothers me if dolls smoke, because it doesn't harm them, and as somebody who is very character driven in her doll pursuits, I understand having dolls do certain things because it fits who their characters are.

You don't always know, though, unless someone specifically says something, whether or not they're being flippant about it. They may not have any kind of anti smoking message, but that doesn't mean that they think real people should go out and light up either. You have to be careful not to draw too many conclusions about the owners from their dolls. Art doesn't always imitate life. It's possible to understand very well the effects of smoking, but that doesn't mean that that particular message fits within the story or photoshoot. Or to put it much more simply, my dolls and I don't view smoking the same way

Uh...see above? lol. Whether or not dolls smoke in photos isn't going to have an effect on the instances of real people smoking, I'm afraid. Sometimes things bother us, because they just do. I found your post and point of view very interesting, but I think it's important to keep in mind that while you have valid reasons for being uncomfortable with smoking, doll owners have valid reasons for having their dolls smoke even if it's not an anti-smoking message. Sometimes the stories we want to tell include negative as well as positive and aren't always good vehicles for certain messages (not that you can't make a story that is, but if I included it in my own, it would seem badly out of place and jarring).

 

I think as long as it's not trying to promote the drug and make it look cool then go ahead. I can't and don't condone drug abuse, but if it's just part of a story and isn't trying to say "hey kids! you should try this!"

 

Considering all the teen novels there are out there about drug use, it's obviously not as taboo a topic as it once was. The story of someone who realizes they are addicted and tries to stop is a compelling one for many people, since addictions take many forms. I might read the photostory depending on how good it is, because it would be very easy to make a poorly done or distasteful photostory on the topic. But if care is taken to accurately portray the struggle, I have no problem at all with the idea.

 

Hmm.. I would say it depends more on the plot of the story than the drugs involved. If the story is a good one, then sure I wouldn't mind reading it =)

 

I would have no problem reading it, if the personality fits the situation. Or the plot is centered around a character either trying to get clean or just becoming addicted to it. I probably would not read a story about a day of a junkie's life. Getting clean or just becoming one would seem more interesting, logically. I don't think this subject is as "hush-hush", "something we must not talk about" anymore as its happening in more than likely every country of the world.

 

Depends on the "day in a junkies life" kinda of day. I mean sure, the same thing story after story gets old and uninsteresting be it tragic, interesting, fantastic or whatever.
But say, one time around it could be a very interesting read and an equally as interesting lead in to a story, character history or something along those lines.

Honestly, if it were easier to find an MSD scale syringe I'd have something like that up somewhere by now...

More then one of those kinds of photostories would get dull, old and really not that interesting. In fact it'd probably come off as a "hey kids! Do drugs!" kind of thing real quickly if more then one were done. Well by one person. Everyone is intilted to their own depiction of it at least once XD

 

Well, since you said it wouldn't be posted here (I don't think it's allowed..) then whatever. People can do what they want with their dolls.. Hell, set 'em on fire. It's your $700, now mine. lol And I'm guessing wherever you DO post that material, it won't be against the rules, so it's all fine.