The Spectacular Now directed by James Ponsoldt is a rather interesting coming-of-age film. What sets this film apart from many other films of this genre is the emphasis on teenage alcoholism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The focus of the film is on the protagonist Sutter Keely, a laid-back and charismatic high school student who everyone knows as a party animal. From the beginning of the film, it is evident that Sutter has a growing addiction to alcohol. In fact, the very first scene of the film is Sutter drinking a bottle of beer while attempting to compose an overdue essay for a college application. Distraught after being dumped by his girlfriend, Sutter gets drunk and is woken up on a stranger's lawn by Aimee Finecky. Aimee is very different from Sutter; she is a quiet and shy bookworm who is a less popular student in Sutter's school. While Aimee has promising plans for her future, Sutter is stuck in the “spectacular now” deception. Sutter begins spending time with Aimee in hopes of bringing her out of her shell, but in the process he falls in love with her. Sutter in fact helps Aimee gain more confidence, however, he also starts drinking with him. Eventually, Sutter's addiction to alcohol begins to thrive as several events in his life begin to unfold. Through the film's scenes, it becomes evident that Sutter's addiction can be viewed from biological, psychological, social, cultural and spiritual dimensions. These five dimensions are the essence of the Bio-Psycho-Social Plus (BPS+) model presented by Herie and Skinner (2014). The biological dimension of the BPS+ model focuses on addiction as a deviation from the proper functioning of the brain and body. Think of addiction as a cause of chemical imbalances in the brain or as some kind of inherited brain disease. The effects of alcohol are psychoactive. According to Herie and Skinner (2010) in Substance Abuse in Canada, “alcohol affects the brain's neurons, cells that communicate with other parts of the brain, the spine, and peripheral nerves.” Alcohol is considered a depressant and therefore slows down communication between neurons and causes unusual behavior. Additionally, alcohol affects the part of the brain that controls consciousness, the cerebellum, which controls coordination, the hippocampus, which controls memory, and the frontal lobes, which control judgment and emotions. Furthermore, Gabor Maté (2008), in The Realm of Hungry Ghosts, states that “in a study of alcoholics, opioid receptor activity was decreased in several brain regions, and this was associated with increased alcohol craving ”. All of these elements are evident in The Spectacular Now through Sutter's characterization. As mentioned, Sutter passes out on a stranger's lawn after a night of excessive drinking. This is evidence of the deterioration of his consciousness. Sutter's coordination is impaired as he drives after drinking on multiple occasions throughout the film and swerves across lanes and crashes into a pole in front of his house. Sutter's memory, judgment, and emotions are impaired as he forgets where his car is when he is found passed out on the lawn. They are also smitten when he kisses Aimee at a party and tells her he will take her to prom but forgets about it until the next morning, when everything slowly starts to come back to him. In addition to Sutter's deteriorating brain and behavioral functioning, his dependence on alcohol can be viewed as an inherited brain disease. For most of the film, Sutter's father is completely outfrom games. He lives alone with his single mother who works a lot to try to make ends meet for both of them. The absence of this parental contact, both in childhood and adolescence, makes him more vulnerable to addiction as he uses alcohol to try to compensate for what his brain lacks. Sutter makes a comment fairly near the beginning of the film stating that his first beer was given to him at the age of six by his father. Although Sutter has a great interest in meeting his father, his mother does not allow him to have any contact with him. Eventually, after being influenced by Aimee to stand up to his mother and make his own decisions, Sutter visits his sister who gives him their father's number and address. Sutter calls his father and makes arrangements to see him with Aimee. When they first arrive there, Sutter's father doesn't seem to remember making arrangements to meet his son. It is at this point that it begins to become apparent that Sutter's father is drunk. It becomes even more apparent when he suggests that Sutter meet him at a bar down the street for a drink. When they get there, they consume three mugs of beer. Not only is it obvious that Sutter's father suffers from alcohol addiction, but it also becomes clear that he has a tobacco addiction as he keeps a cigarette in his mouth for most of the time he appears in the film. From the position of the biological dimension of the BPS+ model, because Sutter was exposed to his father's alcohol use at a young age and his father's clearly ongoing addictions, Sutter developed a predisposition and increased susceptibility to addiction. This may also be related to Aimee, whose parents, as we discover over the course of the film, also suffer from addictions. Her mother suffers from a gambling addiction, which becomes apparent through Aimee's dialogue about how she abandons her newspaper duties and leaves Aimee and her brother to fend for themselves so she can go to the casino every night. Aimee also briefly mentions that her father died due to his addiction to painkillers. That said, Aimee's apparent developing alcohol addiction may be caused by an inheritance of addictive qualities. Both Aimee and Sutter's legacy of addiction can be linked to Marine Woodrow's chapter in Crozier and Lane's Addicted. Woodrow states that after living with his father's alcoholism throughout his childhood, he begins to develop an addiction to it in his adulthood. Ultimately, alcohol disrupts self-regulation, which is necessary to choose not to be an addict, and therefore makes Sutter and Aimee more vulnerable to alcohol addiction. The psychological dimension of the BPS+ addiction model focuses on the mental state in a way that emphasizes the impulses and motivations that drive a person to a particular behavior. This dimension also focuses on external rewards and punishments that could maintain and shape behaviors as well as disinhibit them. The psychological dimension places great emphasis on the addictive personality, which develops from a person's stress. Maté (2008) claims that “stress is one of the main causes of ongoing drug addiction”. Herie and Skinner (2010) state that some psychological effects that can motivate a person to drink include “mild euphoria, increased confidence and relaxation, and decreased inhibitions.” We see a lot of evidence of these factors in both Sutter and Aimee throughout the film. It becomes obvious over the course of the film that what drives Sutter to drink is the pain resulting from the many events that have occurred throughout his life. It's clear that Sutter drinks as a way to escape the thought of his girlfriend leaving him. In fact, Sutter goes straight to a bar after the accident and gets drunk. Furthermore, inOn many occasions we see Sutter drinking as a way to boost his confidence, to relax and feel better about himself. This is evident when his ex-girlfriend gets angry at him for always being drunk and incapable of being serious, especially when thinking about the future. Aimee also uses alcohol to boost her confidence as she is afraid of opposing her mother who gives her a lot of responsibilities and her best friend who is always on her back regarding her personal life decisions, such as dating Sutter. Furthermore, stress plays a major role in Sutter's life and therefore makes him more susceptible to his addiction to alcohol. It's clear that much of Sutter's stress comes from living much of his life without a father figure. He spent much of his life thinking about his father and when he actually met him it wasn't the outcome he expected. Although he uses alcohol to try to hide it, Sutter is also clearly stressed about his future. While all of his classmates get accepted to colleges, Sutter can't even compose an essay for his application. Towards the end of the film, it is revealed that Sutter is afraid of failing, of disappointing people, of hurting them, and even of getting hurt, so his need to drink comes from wanting to hide these feelings to protect himself. the BPS+ model is Sutter's increasing tolerance to alcohol. This is evident when he makes Aimee try the liquor in his flask and she almost spits it out. When he asks Sutter how he can drink it so easily, his response is that he's used to it. Therefore, as the film progresses, he needs more and more alcohol to experience its psychological rewards. Sutter also loses his job near the end of the film when his boss gives him an ultimatum to keep working or stop coming to work drunk or drinking on the job. Sutter refuses the offer as he admits that he is unable to do so and will therefore be left without a job. The social dimension of the BPS+ addiction model focuses on the influences of the people and environment around the addict. This dimension also emphasizes behaviors that are modeled and valued, as well as behaviors that are normalized and legalized in society. How specific behaviors are promoted can also have a direct impact on an addict as they become more susceptible to them. Social and environmental factors are highly influential on both the nature and rate of substance use and abuse. In The Spectacular Now, much of Sutter's drinking occurs in a social context. He is in fact considered the life of the party by many of his classmates and appears to be well known for procuring and supplying them with alcohol. As David Nutt states in Drugs Without the Hot Air, “…the widespread availability and social acceptability of alcohol makes addiction more likely.” Near the beginning of the film, Sutter opens the trunk and reveals a refrigerator full of beer cans. He also always carries a flask full of liquor in his pocket, revealing the availability of alcohol to him. The elements of the social dimension could also be linked to Sutter's childhood where he experienced his father's drinking and then carried on the behavior by modeling it. This dimension can also be applied to Aimee who has never been a drinker before being exposed to both Sutter's drinking and the parties he takes her to, where almost everyone has a drink in their hand. Sutter even goes so far as to buy Aimee her own flask, which she begins using daily, showing that Sutter's influence has made her more susceptible to developing an addiction to alcohol. Additionally, those who have difficulty maintaining or forming lasting relationships are more vulnerable to addiction. This is evident when Sutter's relationship with his ex-girlfriend.