Portraying Dollie Drug Use?

I feel about it the same way I feel about drug use depicted in movies. As long as it isn't glorified (and perhaps some kind of warning is put forth if it's REALLY graphic or disturbing) than I've no problem with it being depicted. It is a reality of life that people do come up against, and since I see photostories in the same way as any other story, drug use can be a plot element and add depth and drama to a story.
Taking it lightly and making heroin jokes is tasteless, in my opinion. Glorifying drug use is something people shouldn't do anyway, especially not when people who are easily influenced could be ...influenced.

 

Anyone wanting to portray heroin use in doll (or any other) form, should read Trainspotting. It's a frighteningly accurate look at heroin use from a user's perspective, covering both the crushing lows and the indescribable highs. It doesn't 'glamourise' heroin, but nor does it entirely condemn it - It freely admits that those who do heroin do so for a reason - Because it feels good and is a welcome escape.

However, one could argue that any portrayal of heroin use in the doll community would have to be glamourised. When people on average have between two and a dozen dolls, there's no room in that small a 'population' to include individuals with no redeeming features. Thus, any doll which is characterised by their addiction must on some level be glamourising addiction. And the addition of a drug addiction to an already fully developed character suggests that on some level the dependency is desireable.

Also, the question must be asked of how realistically hard-drug addictions are portrayed in the BJD community. Are the characters affected on any fundamental level by their dependency, or is it simply another way to make the doll apper more rebellious, deep, or troubled? Is the limit of the unwanted side effects of heroin use bruised forearms and mood swings, or does it go all the way to chronic constipation and catatonia?

 

I'd read it. .:Shrugs:. I .. really hate drug use in the 'real' world, but it's always been a very large interest of mine (probably because they terrify me so much ) It's hard to explain. XD But still, I find it interesting.

Alcohol abuse really bugs me (for personal reasons), but heroin and stuff .. I don't know, doesn't faze me in the doll world. Like I said, real world, I'm too scared. XD I think it's ridiculous.

Eh? No way. XD Anything goes. They're not real, so .. I don't see why it matters. Your character, after all~!



For the record: I have a drug addict (and yes, he gets all the bad shit - I don't glamorize it at all when it comes to Riyuu .. he's a mess) and an ex-drug-addict. So .. maybe I'm biased?

 

I disagree with this--it is very possible to show the negative impacts of drug use with dolls. While most people I'm sure would consider their dolls to have some redeeming qualities, that doesn't mean that their characters also don't have their dark sides and serious issues. There are reasons why someone may add addiction to their doll's story that do not treat drugs in a positive way. For instance, drug addiction maybe the demon or villan that that character has to fight against.

I'm not sure about the realism of serious drug addicts, as you mentioned. To be honest, I've not come across a lot of stories that deal with hardcore drug use. I also might have just missed them, since I don't spend a whole lot of time in the gallery.

 

I would be depressed. I would worry about the owner of the doll and what feelings would make them subject their poor dollies to this. I had a cousin commit suicide because of drug use, and so I do not think it is a light matter in the slightest.

It would be more okay if the dolls were triumphing with kicking the addiction. I am not sure what reason there could ever be to have dolls on drugs. I do not see how this could make the owner happy or make the dolls strong characters. I certainly would not like to read stories about it, as drugs not taken for medical purposes are not positive and beneficial, but rather cause pain and problems in relationships.

I like Beccory's point about using it as a warning. Definitely no glorification.

 

I agree with Ratty. What's the reason behind the decision? And it is a decision. Everything about your dolls is a conscious decision made by you. Is it a tool in the exploration of something else, or just an 'accessory' to your doll's character? I also agree with the poster who mentioned research - there's no point in playing with such powerful themes if you're not going to learn anything from them. And on a more... literary? fictional? level, don't confine yourself to looking at that kind of 'addict' character purely from your own personal standpoint. Try it from somewhere else. Try it from his. Or hers. I guarantee it will be more interesting.

 

I agree with this point of view, just like armeleia's. It depends on the situation and how the drug is portrayed on whether I would think it was worth looking at. I've seen some photo stories which are told from the view that the characters are trying to quit but finding it hard. I find these more 'acceptable' representations in my eyes BUT I also find it really hard to connect with any story that involves characters fighting an addiction because I feel that in the end, if it was there decision to start taking whichever drug they are now addicted to, they deserve the consequences.

 

I wouldn't read a story with drug use in it, and even implied it would probably drastically lower my opinion of the doll's character and possibly put me off looking at any more photos of that doll, or even by that person, depending on how flippant they were about it. This is entirely due to my own beliefs - I am not tolerant of recreational drug use in any way, shape or form.

I'm only barely tolerant of drinking and smoking - neither of which I do in real life - but I can and do accept them in photostories and suchlike if they fit the characters. Medicinal drug use in photostories would have to be handled carefully - that is something I wouldn't even attempt, even though one of my soon-to-be-doll-bodied-characters is a doctor.

I do explore a lot of other very charged and sometimes questionable themes in my doll art - which I'm sure many other people want no part of - so I'm not about to say drug use has no part in the doll world. If battling your personal demons or exploring your doll's character takes you to that place and you don't have a problem with it - sure, go right ahead! Just tag it properly so I can avoid it >.>

 

I would stop reading it... it wouldnt offend me since we as a society are so desenstized to crime,drug use,pornography etc but I wouldnt waste my time reading it .I dont like "real world" baloney to come in to the little bubble that I create for myself and my dolls and pets. The Real world is harsh and ugly enough as it is and I dont really need to read about a doll have an drug addiction,being abused or abusing someone etc etc.

 

In reality I find drugs extremely unappealing, and the effects of drugs IMO just make people act stupid, so that'd be a kind of turn-off for me... like I wouldn't make that photostory, but whatever. (Okay, but if it's a character that's getting help with the drug use, and not just a distasteful drug fest then that's... better)

 

I disagree with all of those statements. (A) Who is to say that there's "no room" in somebody else's doll collection-- no matter the size-- for personalities of all types? (B) Who is to say that drug addicts are all "individuals with no redeeming features", anyway? Are they not human beings? As such, can't they be made into sympathetic characters too, if the owner wants them to be? (C) Why does a fully-developed character have to be all-black or all-white? A real person has both good & bad points. A well developed doll character could be a church-going pillar of the community who runs a day-care center, but cheats on his wife and snorts coke on the weekend. To say that this portrayal automatically "glamorizes" that character's drug use, instead of the addiction being a less-desirable facet of that person's character, is both presumptuous and unfair.

Portraying something does not equal glamorizing it. It doesn't even always equal condoning it. I personally love a good drug story, especially if there's lots of gnarly self-abasement and a cracking good epiphany at the end (Irvine Welsh, Maggie Estep, any juicy Hollywood tell-all)... and, oh heck, even if there is no epiphany and only despair (Hubert Selby). Even if they're aware of their problems but remain "unrepentant" in the end (Wm. Burroughs, Hunter Thompson, Jim Carroll), I still like reading stories of the things that they discover/learn from their addiction, what need they think they're serving with it, what catharsis it may bring, or the ways it alters their world. It's often enlightening beyond just being lurid entertainment. But there can be fun in luridness too... even as a child, I loved the getting-piss-drunk-and-hallucinating scene in "Dumbo" .... and talk about glamorizing, Mr. Disney, those drunken animals never even had a hangover!

But for doll stories-- no, I'd think they were inappropriate here, and recommend that the author go post in the specialized sub-forums on ConDoll. Depiction of chemical entertainment is not a mass-audience thing. Treat a drug like you'd treat a gun or a breast: lightly judicious exposure may fly in a PG13 arena, but too much visible shock-and-schlock turns it into an Adult Item.

 

It wouldn't offend me. However I do think that if a person did do a such a photostory, there should be a warning in the title so that those that ARE offended by it, doesn't have to see it.

Drug use is obviously bad in all kinds of ways and shouldn't be taken too lightly and you should never assume that people go un-offended by it. They might have parents, friends or other relatives that are troubled by drug-abuse, or might even have problems themselves, you never know these things..

With that in mind when posting, I think it's totally ok to have it in a dolly photostory since it's fiction. There are tons of movies and books out there on this subject and I can't see any reason to why a doll owner shouldn't be allowed to portray drug use. And the argument "oh those poor dolls" doesn't really fit does it, since the dolls are in fact made out of resin and aren't alive. Sorry to break it to you, but this is the truth people..

 

IMO, It just depends on how the person handles the story. The more real the story the better it is to me. I mean both the Good and the Bad side of what their doll does. Everyone is right and they shouldn't be posted here. I can't wait to get my girl and start her story.

 

Doesn't bother me at all. And I've had friends who are major junkies and those who have been lucky enough to constrict their drug use to social gatherings only (And yes, people can do that). There's a distinct difference between real life and fiction.

I'm also a writer and used to be a pretty avid pill popper, so I like to express myself with my characters. One character I have is a heroin addict, forced into the drug scene by his drug dealing father. He's very sickly and I have to admit, very depressing. Kome, on the other hand, being the rockstar that he is, thinks drugs are glamourous and isn't exactly very innocent either. Both of them express my mixed feelings on drugs, really. So I say as long as a person knows what they're doing when they're doing a story including drug use, it's fine.

As always, as a writer, they should label it as it can be offensive, and as a reader, if they don't like the thought of it, they don't have to read it.

EDIT: I also just read JennyNemesis's post and completely agree with her. :3 I'm not quite as eloquant, but that was nicely stated.

 

I don't think it's any worse than dolls who smoke cigarettes, drink booze, engage in multi-doll orgies, or take part in any other excess that's just imaginary anyhow, so who cares? Dolls are an escape from reality, but they're also a mirror of reality. Whatever floats your boat. I don't get really involved with developing story lines for my dolls, but I always imagined that a couple of them had problems with alcohol. I didn't want them to be virtuous characters, but characters in search of redemption. It probably would be more interesting to have made them characters who were otherwise decent, but had this vice that is not only illegal, but frowned upon and generally discouraged by the status quo. Can you make the audience sympathetic? Do you *want* them to be sympathetic, not knowing what their background is? I think it's safe to assume that most or all of your audience would probably be taken aback by drug use, else you'd not worry about posting a question like this. That'd be an interesting place to take things... how does this addiction figure into the overall character?

On that note, I'd be more shocked to hear about a doll character that actually dies, I think. Not offended, but surprised. What do you do with a doll whose character you've killed off?

I just realized that JennyNemesis pretty much said what I was thinking much more eloquently. Booyaka!

 

It certainly would'nt offend me, these are dolls we're talking about - they can't get high, drunk or overdose and it would just be a photoshoot to me. People use their dolls to depict all kinds of things, both good and bad (both depending on how you look at it) and it would make no impact on me whatsoever.
If anyone thinks that the younger members here may be at some sort of risk of becoming junkies just by looking at depictions of dolls and drugs then i suggest they stand around schools at the end of the day and fight off the dealers (some no older than the kids anyway).
Why is it OK to look at half naked dolls or dolls dressed like prostitutes but not OK to see them depicted taking drugs or drinking?
Double standards don't work my dears, they just make things even sillier.
Just my opinion

 

Hah. That's a great point. XD

Back in high school, one of our security guards was dealing drugs. So really, it doesn't matter - children WILL be exposed to it sooner or later. It's whether they are informed about it correctly or not. You can't shield them from everything forever and really, you shouldn't. It doesn't make anything better - in fact it usually ends up resulting in the opposite.

 

This comes up a lot with any debate topic that contains contraversial material. People see something that disturbs them, and assume that there is probably something wrong with the owner. What people need to realize is that the stories and characters do not necessarily reflect the owner's real life--at least not always in the blatant way people assume.

We are talking about addiction so, it may be possible that someone is working out their own issues or feelings about drug use through dolls, it is also possible that the owner has no personal experience with the topic, but wants to explore an issue that is different from their everyday life. Drug use is something that happens everywhere, and it makes sense that people want to address it in someway. Some people use these dolls as a medium with which to tell stories, and characters in stories are not always upstanding well adjusted citizens, so why would it be different with dolls? Why can't doll characters go out and misbehave, make mistakes, and struggle with things like characters on paper can?

 

This thread is a very interesting one and I have enjoyed seeing everyone's opinions on the subject. One thing I noticed that wasn't mentioned was prescription drugs. A person who is diabetic has to regulate their insulin and thus could take shots during the day. Persons like myself who suffer from depression often take medication on a daily basis. These are also drugs that we as a society come in to contact with every day.

Personally, I have no problems seeing a doll character that takes drugs, whether they be recreational or prescription. I would have a problem if they were portrayed inaccurately. Anti-depressants aren't a magical pill, there are side effects. The same goes for any type of medication.

Just my few cents... ^-^

 

EDIT: WAFFLE THAT DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE (or show what I wanted it to)

I might have some way to say it (maybe other people relate to it but probably not).

Theres me over here (yay dollies and manga and wierd stuff that gets me and friends called geeks and freaks)

Then theres the cooler kids over here (yay for social smoking and parties with drugs and shit omg!!111!1Skins is awesome!!1!!ONEONEsolikemyREALlife!!!!I'mcoollulz!!!1!) < got a bit carried away there

The fact that I like the dolls.... and then they smoke or do drugs... its like it creates a sort of 'barrier' for me... and its like, just like the friends that have left me to take drugs at 'cooler' parties, the dolls are crossing the barrier too. And it's a barrier that I can't cross.
And I find solice in these dolls, but I can't if they do the very thing that made me an outcast in the first place. You get me? Anyone?