Portraying Dollie Drug Use?

double post.

 

QFE. Fundamentally, I fail to see the problem in doing anything just because it's cool, or just because you want attention, or just because your friends are doing it. (As someone once told me, "it's not whether it's been done, it's whether YOU have done it.") Every character has his/her own reasons for doing things-- whether s/he has a drug habit & likes it, or has a drug habit & struggles desperately to get rid of it. And since this is fiction, the character's motives, & 'negative' traits, don't necessarily reflect the author's.

Another thing that bothers me is the prevalence of arguments that, at their root, boil down to "it's only immoral if you enjoy it". The basic fact is: Drugs make you feel good for no reason. This is why so many people get hooked on them, and get hooked so quickly and so deeply. In turn, this is why there is such pressure to portray them as being 100% negative ("see, they don't REALLY make you feel good! stay away!"). As such, drug-users on TV/movies are hardly ever shown enjoying themselves-- unless it is the first chapter of a cautionary tale, in which the user comes to an ugly end. If someone is shown enjoying their drug habit, being successful in money or love, never getting any comeuppance, and having a happy ending, it tends to upset people.

The notable exception to this rule is, of course, Cheech & Chong. (And their ilk, from Mike Spicolli on up to Harold & Kumar.) Stoners have been used as comic relief for decades. Most people find this comedic portrayal to be harmless, equating it with comedic portrayal of drunken people. Intoxicated people do funny things, fall down amusingly, and say things that they ordinarily wouldn't. Perhaps this is why they fascinate the audience, who may wish vicariously for the same 'freedom', to dance naked on tables or swear at policemen or say what they really think.

Others, however, think that this very 'perceived harmlessness' of marijuana portrayal is the problem itself-- if you give something an ounce of respectability, make it funny or charming, it loses its power to scare people away. Both parties are at least partly right. However, that goes more into the larger debate of whether alcohol is as bad a drug as marijuana, etc. etc., and I shan't touch that one here. Not my jurisdiction. ^^ (And besides, I am rambling. It's a good topic!!)

 

I wouldn't mind and I would find very interesting.I kinda like people with problens ^^'.
It depends how the human behind it all would make the photos and the plot,if it's good I would problaby love it.After all people have problems, why dolls wouldn't have too?Other thing is that BJD isn't realy a kid hobby so why can't we talk about serius things.
I think would be funny to see a made-up drug ^^

 

Well as with the situation with the portrayal of graphic violence, graphic sex, or underage sex, the bottom line on THIS site is that there are legal ramifications to portraying it here. This is a free-access set and minors are members and post to it all the time. Which means that if someone's mommy or daddy does some nanny-surfing, finds out they have been looking at naughty things and gets mad, the mods and site owners can (and would) be sued. Which means no more DoA.

This is an issue that is always going to involve sites that are free-access and post any sort of creative expression.

So it ain't gonna happen here. Those associated with DoA have the right to protect themselves.

As for seeing drug use on restricted sites, I wouldn't be offended because I would never go to them. The end.

 

Firstly, I just want to note that at this point, I'm pretty sure - or at least hope - that most of everyone is aware that portrayal of drug use would not make an appropriate topic on DoA due to the forum's PG13 rating. It makes for interesting debate (what does or doesn't disturb a person in a hobby such as ours), but I don't think that anyone is debating for stories of drug use to be allowed on the forum.

Onwards...

I agree with this. But I think there's a difference though. A character who is doing it because it's cool, or want attention, or because of peer pressure is different from the creator of the story/photostory who wrote in drug usage or smoking or drinking because they think it's cool. This difference will lie in how the story is told. I think that's why some of us have been saying that we would find it boring or distasteful if it was for cheap shock value or glorification of it.

Just as how stories that only heavily emphasize the horrors of drug usage without mentioning the highs of it can come off as dull and two-dimensional, the same goes for stories that have characters shooting up and being cool in a dangerous way without mentions of side-effects either (or rather, there are side-effects but they are easily handled/overcome).

In the end, I personally think it comes down to plot and execution.

 

Yeah! That's how I feel, it's how the use of drugs are portrayed... sort of ... but I can't explain it that well

 

That would be a interesting theme to bring into "debate"
(as I see BJDs as an art)
I would probably read it n__n

 

First of all--people can do what they want, and I don't like the idea of limiting that, and wouldn't want to ever.

That said, in most cases it wouldn't bother me at all. If it's part of the character--and it could indeed be an important part of the character sometimes--and portrayed realistically and not idealized, then it can actually be a great addition to a photostory or something. Even if it's not important, again, if it's handled realistically I'm fine with it. People do drugs. Characters in stories, movies, everything do drugs. Often peoples' dolls are representations of their characters, and so why should this be off-limits? In many ways, the dolls' world can reflect our own, so why not in this way?

That said, when it is handled tastelessly or promotes drugs, I find it a bit unnecessary. I don't care if people do this--it is their choice after all. But this is the sort of thing I'd much rather not see, and one of those things I wish would go away, but know won't.

Quick edit: That doesn't mean I think anything handled should be "Ohnoes drugs are bad!" and preach at you. My stance on THAT seems to have been handled better than I could already. *Just read through a bit more of the thread.*

 

I think everyone has their own right for imagination. It is a doll afterall. You can make it be whatever you want it to be. If you don't like someone's story, then ask yourself why and learn to accept it, unless it's really bad where it affects your personal beliefs. If the images are that bad, then just don't waste your time on it.

 

But that wasn't the question, the question was How would you feel? so it's not as simple as 'just don't waste your time on it' in my opinion...

 

I think people could make a great doll character and background if it has a drug addiction. It depends on the owner I think, if they really want to give their doll an addiction, I think it would be interesting to explore

 

I think you can always do something that portrays the addiction without condoning or encouraging the use. Made up "drugs" or replacement items as drugs is also totally workable. There is a movie that portrays drug use as "sugar" use... in the movie, sugar is a controlled substance and people are addicted to mainlining sugar as well as illegal sugar products, like donuts, cookies, etc. So, there are many options...

 

How would you feel if you saw a photo story of a doll who had some kind of drug addiction? Would you read it, or skip over it and move on, or even be offended?

I suppose it depends on the manner in which it was portrayed, that is the maturity of how it's handled? A doll with a drug addiction that was realistic wouldn't bother me at all. A doll that had an unrealisitically positive addiction (to, say, cocaine, as in they use it and are completely in control/no negative effects) would annoy me JUST as much as a doll who's photostory purpose seemed to be a political campaign against drug use. For example, a doll being used as a political tool to sway people from drug use, as opposed to there being an actual character/reason to the relationship. I guess that's all up to the doll owner and all, but eh. I find that kind of thing silly.

Would it make a difference if the character in question was addicted to alcohol or if they were addicted to heroin? How about a made-up drug?

Nope. And I don't mind the idea of a made-up drug so much.

Is drug use/addiction too "gritty" for the BJD world?

Not in my opinion.

 

I wouldn't be offened, I think that would just add to the character. There is a lot of a potental for a good story. If it was an alcohol or heroin it doesn't matter much, even a made-up drug sound interesting, new drugs are created everyday so it's pretty realistic really. As far as "gritty" goes, I don't believe so but that's just my opinion.

 

I'd be alarmed if I found a photostory featuring said abuse- no matter how it was portrayed, comically, glamourously or as a political platform - on DoA. Yes, I'm a minor. No, I don't find drugs too gritty for a world where Rococo maidens and zombies can coexist without too much strain.

Since I *am* under 18 though, I'll be politely ignoring any photostories labeled 18+. For anything. Drug abuse in a backstory isn't disturbing to me unless it starts to sound like a Lifetime movie (i.e. 'Why did he get addicted to so many debilitating, horribly expensive designer drugs if he only had a few dusty pennies to buy them with, pennies he earned stripping in the parking lot to earn money for his sister's iron lung to plug in out back behind their cardboard box?') or the creator treats a serious problem like something the character can shrug off in a bout of hurt-comfort.

If it's a canon character who already uses drugs or a made-up kind of drug, I suppose I'd be more comfortable with it being tastefully brought up.
Is underage smoking an issue on DoA? Hmm.

 

It probably would be really cool and a new idea. I know I want mine to be a chain smoker ((even though I myself would never smoke... but I think it fits her personality))

 

It would bother me. In my opion dolls (most) are supposed to be inoccent. Also if you wouldn't do it yourself why make your doll do it?

 

As far as I'm concerned, people can do photostories about whatever they feel like doing photostories about. If I don't want to look at it I don't have to. If I want to look at it and say/think it's stupid or a bad portrayal of a photostory, I can do that too.

I often feel like the doll world is really obsessed with self-policing. "Would you photograph your doll nude? Would you photograph your doll doing something sexual? Would you photograph your doll drinking or doing drugs? How about if the doll looked underage? What if it looked underage but was actually a 500-year-old wizard who's taken on the appearance of a 10-year-old?" Seriously, none of it bothers me. It's not going to affect the world if someone shoots a photostory. If the question is whether such a photostory belongs on a certain forum that has a general readership, that might be a subject for debate, but if you want to make a website and put what you want on there I don't care at all.

 

I had a long rant typed, but thought better of it. Here's the short version.

No, I wouldn't be offended. In fact, I seek out such photostories. Both my adult dolls smoke herb profusely, and I don't really care if it bothers people. I like dolls I can relate to.

That said, I do use some tact when posting photos of my dolls in certain situations, and only post photos of drug or alcohol use in 18-and-up forums where it's allowed. (ConDoll is great for that.)

I guess different things offend different people. I've seen a pus-filled eye socket, slashed throat, self-inflicted scars, boys in dresses, alcohol use, mentions of rape and abuse in backstories, 60/45 couples, and all kinds of equally controvercial things here on DoA. When I'm surfing around the doll forums and come across an innocent story involving a pipe, it's...well...a breath of fresh air.