Answer Addiction

Tag: alcohol

  • Does Football Promote and Encourage Binge Drinking?

    Does Football Promote and Encourage Binge Drinking?

    Football and Binge Drinking

    Whether in the stands or the media, the consumption of alcohol is ever-present and widely celebrated in the world of sport. And with the 2018 World Cup providing the most recent example, it raises the question, does football promote binge drinking?

    If this year’s World Cup has taught us anything, it’s that football and drinking still very much go hand-in-hand. Amid all the excitement and heartache throughout the tournament, alcohol maintained a very active presence in the media. Granted, much of it was due to the huge amounts of beer being thrown in the air to celebrate goals being
    scored, but it’s clear that binge drinking was being given the green light for such a special occasion.

    In this post, we’ll discuss the role of alcohol in football fandom and whether or not it encourages people to have “one too many”.

    Alcohol Sponsorship in Football

    For many years now, a wide range of beer and spirit brands have sponsored football teams and tournaments. Prime examples include Liverpool featuring the Carlsberg logo on their shirts, and the English League Cup spending several years under the mantle of “The Carling Cup”.

    And while alcohol sponsorship on team shirts is substantially less common these days — with gambling and apps seemingly taking its place — there’s still a great deal of it being featured on pitch-side banners, as well as in pre and post-match television ads.

    Although it would definitely be a reach to suggest that sponsorship in football alone is responsible for widespread binge-drinking, it’s safe to say that it’s established a link between the two. For many, this has been enough to promote the idea that:

    Football is more enjoyable while under the influence.

    Are We Ignoring the Obvious?

    Considering that we live in an era where the awareness and treatment of alcohol addiction is held in such high regard, it’s surprising that the dangers of excessive drinking are somewhat ignored when it comes to football. And while it’s fair to say companies aren’t forcing their customers to drink in excess, the encouragement from advertising is a massive influence.

    It’s especially worrying when you consider how many young fans associate football with alcohol consumption, and develop a binge drinking habit early on, due to the established routine of getting drunk.

    The Impact of Binge Drinking

    The definition of binge drinking is consuming a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time. Your body can only process one unit of alcohol per hour, which is worrying, because the average pint of lager contains 2-3 units.

    A football match lasts for ninety minutes (plus 15 minutes for halftime), and, during this time, it’s safe to say the average fan will polish off several drinks.

    Binge drinking can severely impact your mood and mental health, and it’s often the catalyst that fuels violent or hostile situations during football matches. When alcohol is flooded into your system over such a short period of time, it can also harm your liver and kidneys, especially if you binge drink on a regular basis.

    Signs of a Problem

    The definition of binge drinking is to consume lots of alcohol (6 units or more) in a short space of time, or drinking with the intention of getting drunk. For some, this will occur once or twice a month and have no long-lasting problems, but for others, binge drinking can become a regular or even daily habit. Here are some of the signs that your binge drinking is developing into a more serious problem:

    1. You Can’t Consume Only a Small Amount of Drinks.

    One of the most common signs of problem drinking is an inability just to have one or two drinks. Drinking a lot of alcohol because you are unable to stop once you’ve started is not only a sign of a binge drinking problem, but it’s also a red flag for alcohol dependence.

    2. Drinking with the Intention of Getting Drunk.

    There’s a big difference between having a few drinks and ending up drunk and going out with the sole intention of getting drunk. Regularly drinking to the point of intoxication can be harmful for several reasons, so it’s not something that you should aim to achieve and definitely shouldn’t be your reason for drinking alcohol.

    3. Drinking Quick.

    While many people like to sit down and enjoy a cold beer, a glass of wine with some food, or a tasty cocktail at a bar, there are others who finish or ‘down’ their drinks as quickly as possible. This is a common tactic of a binge drinker as it allows them to get drunk as quickly as possible and alcohol is simply treated as a means to an end, rather than an ingredient of an enjoyable beverage.

    4. Drastic Personality Change.

    The overindulgence of alcohol can often bring out a different side of people, causing them to act in ways that can potentially put themselves or others in danger. For example, when someone is sober, the concept of drinking and driving would seem ludicrous. However, they might be able to justify getting behind the wheel after a period of heavy drinking.

    5. Aggression and Violence.

    Several studies have revealed a link between binge drinking and aggressive or violent behaviour. Alcohol can massively influence how you respond to certain situations. So when you’re drinking, things can get out of control due to aggressive behavior. Combine that with other drunk people and there’s a recipe for aggravation and altercations.

    What You Can Do About It

    When it comes to excessive binge drinking the first and most important step is recognising that there’s a problem. Then, depending on the severity of the issue, a decision needs to be made about how you can go about reducing your intake and attitude towards alcohol. Everyone is different and will respond positively to different solutions. If you or someone you know is having problems with binge drinking then one of the following is advisable:

    Remove Yourself from Toxic Environments.

    Regular binge drinking isn’t necessarily a sign of alcoholism or alcohol dependency, in many cases, it’s simply down to the fact that you’re spending too much time in environments that promote the consumption of alcohol. The best way to remedy the situation could simply be a case of not going out for a while or avoiding hangouts such as bars and clubs, but it may require more drastic action such as not socialising with friends who insist on binge drinking regularly.

    Try to Detox.

    Binge drinking often occurs when you get into the routine of going out every weekend. Detoxing is not only a great way to give your body a much-needed rest from boozing, but it also allows you to break the habit and reduce the likelihood of you slipping back into a binge drinking routine.

    Seek the Help of Professionals

    Drinking alcohol to excess on a regular basis can have a severe impact on your physical and mental health, and if you’re struggling to reduce or give up drinking then you should seek professional help. Your doctor will be able to provide advice and guidance regarding any health issues you may be experiencing due to alcohol. However, if you’re looking for detox treatments and sobriety guidance then your best bet is a specialist rehab or addiction clinic.

    In Conclusion

    Whether or not football promotes binge drinking will always be a matter of opinion, but the environment and atmosphere it creates for fans is an undeniable influence. An influence, of any nature, can be enough to turn “a few drinks” into a bout of binge drinking. For the average fan, this may only be once every so often, but, for those who
    watch every game at the pub, it could develop into a serious condition.

    View the original article at

  • How Alcohol "Hijacks" Dopamine Pathways

    How Alcohol "Hijacks" Dopamine Pathways

    Researchers explored how alcohol affects memories in a recent study.

    While it’s long been known that alcohol affects the brain’s reward pathways, a new study has shed light on exactly how this happens and how it affects memories made while under the influence. 

    According to Inverse, Brown University researchers have proven that alcohol “affects a specific cell signaling pathway in the brains of fruit flies.”

    The specific pathway is called “Notch,” Inverse reports, and is found in humans and most other multicellular organisms. 

    Karla Kaun, assistant professor of neuroscience at Brown University and the study’s corresponding author, tells Newsweek that the way alcohol affects signaling on the Notch pathway can affect associative memory, which can “drive addiction.”

    “While you are drinking, you are forming memories for cues in your environment, like the feel of the glass or the bouquet of your wine, that become associated with the feeling of being intoxicated,” she said. “Our study provides genetic and biochemical evidence that fairly low doses of alcohol can activate a highly conserved cell-signaling pathway in the brain, leading to changes in expression of genes important for learning and memory.”

    According to Inverse, the signaling of the Notch pathway plays a vital role in developing brains for embryos. But, until now, researchers say the impact of the Notch pathway in adults has been underestimated because the pathway could have to do with how alcohol affects dopamine, the neurotransmitter often connected with positive feelings and substance use disorder. 

    During the study, a group of fruit flies was trained to seek out alcohol. In that group, the activation of the Notch pathway affected the flies by changing a certain gene. While alcohol did not decrease, increase or activate the dopamine receptors, it did alter the “gene expression of the dopamine receptors that cells produced,” Inverse reports.

    According to study authors, this change indicates that alcohol is “hijacking” how the dopamine pathways in the brain respond to “pleasure and reward.”

    “If this works the same way in humans, one glass of wine is enough to activate the pathway, but it returns to normal within an hour,” Kaun told the Independent. 

    However, the more drinks consumed, the longer it takes to revert to normal. 

    “After three glasses, with an hour break in between, the pathway doesn’t return to normal after 24 hours,” Kaun added. “We think this persistence is likely what is changing the gene expression in memory circuits.”

    Though not involved with the study, Peter Giese, a professor of neuroscience at King’s College London, tells the Independent that studies like this assist in developing a greater understanding of the brains in those battling substance use disorder, and, in turn, a greater chance of helping them.

    “[This study] suggests that drug addiction persists because memory mechanisms were hijacked by drug exposure,” Giese told the Independent. “The study not only provides a model for understanding the persistence of drug addiction, it also identifies potential pharmacological targets for treating addiction.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • The Rules of Marriage…In Recovery

    The Rules of Marriage…In Recovery

    Even though it’s a positive change, adjusting to marriage with a newly sober spouse is a challenge. Some situations are a little tricky to navigate.

    After being with my husband for 15 years, it might seem like there would be few suprises left. We have the kind of relationship that includes conversations like, “Hey, Harmony, will you cut off this skin tag on my back?” followed by, “Um, no; I’ll make you a doctor’s appointment.” And later, “Does this look infected to you?”

    Robbie is what people in recovery like to call a “normie.” When it comes to alcohol, he can take it or leave it. He can just have one beer, and he doesn’t obsess over when he’ll have the next one. He likes to have fun, and he doesn’t really care if that fun involves alcohol. By the time I entered recovery, he rarely drank anymore; I was always the one drinking, and one of us had to stay sober enough to drive.

    The suprise here is that I am the alcoholic and he is the normie, because everyone who knows us assumed it was the other way around.

    My husband and I built the foundation of our relationship on having as much fun as possible. (Read: we partied a lot.) We’ve been to New Orleans, our closest major city, many times over the years, visiting for Mardi Gras, romantic getaways, concerts, plays, art events, and stuff with our kids. In true alcoholic form, I remember very little of any of it.

    Since I entered recovery, our relationship has shifted considerably. He is exactly the same as he’s always been, but everything about me is changing — how I react to things, what I do and say, how I view and enjoy my life, and how I relate to my husband. All these changes bring up a lot of questions and discussions, obviously, like if we go to New Orleans, will my husband drink? How much? Will I be able to handle it?

    Recently, he scored amazing tickets to an NFL game in the New Orleans Superdome. When he asked me to go, I panicked: I’ve got under two years of sobriety under my belt, and we’ve never been to any major city without alcohol. In fact, the last time we went down there, I started with a hand grenade on Bourbon Street and ended with what I believe to be absinthe. None of this was my husband’s fault — we were just there having fun — but his version of “fun” is a lot less dangerous than mine. When I start drinking, I drink to forget.

    Neither of us knew how severe my issues were when we met and fell in love. We got married, had a bunch of kids, and BAM! I was in so deep I almost didn’t find my way out. But that’s the beauty of true partnership; Robbie supports me fully in everything I do, and he wants nothing more than to see me happy and healthy. Even so, adjusting to the evolution is a challenge, and even though it is a very positive change for our family, there are still times when it can be a little tricky to navigate.

    So, what does my sobriety mean for us as a couple? What are the rules of marriage when one person is an addict and the other is not?

    What to do with the alcohol. The issue of what is and is not allowed in the house is a big one. I’m a stay-at-home mom, which means I’m the one staring at the liquor cabinet at 5 p.m. while our children complain about dinner. For us, getting the alcohol out of the house and keeping it out was vital to maintaining my sobriety. I can’t even have Oreos in the house, lest I eat them all, so for now, it’s better this way.

    However, I do know many couples who still have alcohol at home and the alcoholic partner isn’t bothered by it. It really boils down to triggers. I, for example, am triggered every damn day when I’m home alone with the kids. If I have alcohol around me and no other adults as backup, I would have a very hard time resisting. Robbie understands that and it’s not a problem for us. Also, we didn’t have to throw any of it out because I drank every last drop of it myself before sobering up.

    Prescription medication. Because I’m the mom, I’ve always been in charge of the meds. Uh, I wasn’t exactly responsible — and it was very hard to admit that, both to myself and to my husband. So for a while, and at different points since then, he’s had to take over administering the medication so I don’t eat the entire bottle like candy. He’s been willing to do that because he knows it’s an easy way to help me on my journey to wellness.

    What about the chocolate? One of the biggest problems I’ve had in recovery is my insane sweet tooth. Every time my husband or the kids bring home candy, cupcakes, Lucky Charms, or cake, I generally eat it all before they have a chance to even taste it. Robbie started hiding his stash of cookies from me, which naturally I found, and to be honest we’ve had more spats over the junk food than anything else.

    Am I always going to be the designated driver? GOD NO. I’m not stable enough to drive around a bunch of drunks. This is why there is Uber.

    Football season is huge in our house, and as I mentioned above, we went to an NFL game where everyone was drinking. And it was tough — but as long as I’m honest with him about my struggles, he is happy to help. It’s the honesty part that gets me: being willing to admit that I am powerless over alcohol.

    On the morning of the game, I got up early to attend a meeting, and prepared before we left to avoid getting too hungry, tired, or thirsty. It was literally the most fun I’ve ever had at a football game, ever — and that includes when I was drinking.

    Parties! We go to them. We might have to leave earlier than we’d like. I hope that gets better, but I’m proud of myself for going.

    Meetings. We have three children under the age of 10, and my husband is rarely home before 8 p.m. Finagling our schedules to allow for me to make it to meetings is probably one of the biggest issues we face, and sometimes I get resentful when I really need to go but have to wait until another time. He learned pretty quickly that when I go, I’m much easier to live with, so he does everything he can to accommodate me. Smart man.

    Sex. That’s a topic for a whole other essay. Suffice it to say, it’s been an adjustment.

    I can honestly say, for the first time in a very long while, that I’m truly the person that Robbie fell in love with all those years ago, and his patience with me as I fumble my way through recovery has completely renewed the love I have for him. Marriage in recovery is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Married to a Normie: Relationship Rules

    Married to a Normie: Relationship Rules

    Even though it’s a positive change, adjusting to marriage with a newly sober spouse is a challenge. Some situations are a little tricky to navigate.

    After being with my husband for 15 years, it might seem like there would be few suprises left. We have the kind of relationship that includes conversations like, “Hey, Harmony, will you cut off this skin tag on my back?” followed by, “Um, no; I’ll make you a doctor’s appointment.” And later, “Does this look infected to you?”

    Robbie is what people in recovery like to call a “normie.” When it comes to alcohol, he can take it or leave it. He can just have one beer, and he doesn’t obsess over when he’ll have the next one. He likes to have fun, and he doesn’t really care if that fun involves alcohol. By the time I entered recovery, he rarely drank anymore; I was always the one drinking, and one of us had to stay sober enough to drive.

    The suprise here is that I am the alcoholic and he is the normie, because everyone who knows us assumed it was the other way around.

    My husband and I built the foundation of our relationship on having as much fun as possible. (Read: we partied a lot.) We’ve been to New Orleans, our closest major city, many times over the years, visiting for Mardi Gras, romantic getaways, concerts, plays, art events, and stuff with our kids. In true alcoholic form, I remember very little of any of it.

    Since I entered recovery, our relationship has shifted considerably. He is exactly the same as he’s always been, but everything about me is changing — how I react to things, what I do and say, how I view and enjoy my life, and how I relate to my husband. All these changes bring up a lot of questions and discussions, obviously, like if we go to New Orleans, will my husband drink? How much? Will I be able to handle it?

    Recently, he scored amazing tickets to an NFL game in the New Orleans Superdome. When he asked me to go, I panicked: I’ve got under two years of sobriety under my belt, and we’ve never been to any major city without alcohol. In fact, the last time we went down there, I started with a hand grenade on Bourbon Street and ended with what I believe to be absinthe. None of this was my husband’s fault — we were just there having fun — but his version of “fun” is a lot less dangerous than mine. When I start drinking, I drink to forget.

    Neither of us knew how severe my issues were when we met and fell in love. We got married, had a bunch of kids, and BAM! I was in so deep I almost didn’t find my way out. But that’s the beauty of true partnership; Robbie supports me fully in everything I do, and he wants nothing more than to see me happy and healthy. Even so, adjusting to the evolution is a challenge, and even though it is a very positive change for our family, there are still times when it can be a little tricky to navigate.

    So, what does my sobriety mean for us as a couple? What are the rules of marriage when one person is an addict and the other is not?

    What to do with the alcohol. The issue of what is and is not allowed in the house is a big one. I’m a stay-at-home mom, which means I’m the one staring at the liquor cabinet at 5 p.m. while our children complain about dinner. For us, getting the alcohol out of the house and keeping it out was vital to maintaining my sobriety. I can’t even have Oreos in the house, lest I eat them all, so for now, it’s better this way.

    However, I do know many couples who still have alcohol at home and the alcoholic partner isn’t bothered by it. It really boils down to triggers. I, for example, am triggered every damn day when I’m home alone with the kids. If I have alcohol around me and no other adults as backup, I would have a very hard time resisting. Robbie understands that and it’s not a problem for us. Also, we didn’t have to throw any of it out because I drank every last drop of it myself before sobering up.

    Prescription medication. Because I’m the mom, I’ve always been in charge of the meds. Uh, I wasn’t exactly responsible — and it was very hard to admit that, both to myself and to my husband. So for a while, and at different points since then, he’s had to take over administering the medication so I don’t eat the entire bottle like candy. He’s been willing to do that because he knows it’s an easy way to help me on my journey to wellness.

    What about the chocolate? One of the biggest problems I’ve had in recovery is my insane sweet tooth. Every time my husband or the kids bring home candy, cupcakes, Lucky Charms, or cake, I generally eat it all before they have a chance to even taste it. Robbie started hiding his stash of cookies from me, which naturally I found, and to be honest we’ve had more spats over the junk food than anything else.

    Am I always going to be the designated driver? GOD NO. I’m not stable enough to drive around a bunch of drunks. This is why there is Uber.

    Football season is huge in our house, and as I mentioned above, we went to an NFL game where everyone was drinking. And it was tough — but as long as I’m honest with him about my struggles, he is happy to help. It’s the honesty part that gets me: being willing to admit that I am powerless over alcohol.

    On the morning of the game, I got up early to attend a meeting, and prepared before we left to avoid getting too hungry, tired, or thirsty. It was literally the most fun I’ve ever had at a football game, ever — and that includes when I was drinking.

    Parties! We go to them. We might have to leave earlier than we’d like. I hope that gets better, but I’m proud of myself for going.

    Meetings. We have three children under the age of 10, and my husband is rarely home before 8 p.m. Finagling our schedules to allow for me to make it to meetings is probably one of the biggest issues we face, and sometimes I get resentful when I really need to go but have to wait until another time. He learned pretty quickly that when I go, I’m much easier to live with, so he does everything he can to accommodate me. Smart man.

    Sex. That’s a topic for a whole other essay. Suffice it to say, it’s been an adjustment.

    I can honestly say, for the first time in a very long while, that I’m truly the person that Robbie fell in love with all those years ago, and his patience with me as I fumble my way through recovery has completely renewed the love I have for him. Marriage in recovery is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Intoxicated Birds Cause Trouble In Minnesota

    Intoxicated Birds Cause Trouble In Minnesota

    Bird experts blame seasonal migration for the abnormal behavior while others believe fermented fruit is the culprit.

    Are they two wings to the air or three sheets to the wind? 

    A northern Minnesota town has been plagued by drunk and disorderly birds wreaking havoc on the friendly skies over Gilbert. 

    But—believe it or not—it was the town’s police department that flagged locals to stop calling in about the two-winged town drunks.

    “The Gilbert Police Department has received several reports of birds that appear to be ‘under the influence’ flying into windows, cars and acting confused,” officers wrote on Facebook. “The reason behind this occurrence is certain berries we have in our area have fermented earlier than usual due to an early frost, which in turn has expedited the fermenting process.”

    Typically, the birds would have already migrated away by the time the berries are at their most boisterous-making. But even if there appears to be some potential Flying While Intoxicated violations underway, police asked citizens not to call for help—unless they see “Big Bird operating a motor vehicle in an unsafe manner” or “other birds after midnight with Taco Bell items.” 

    Short of that, the best approach is to wait patiently for the booze to wear off, police said, as birds tend to sober up quickly. 

    Despite the well-received note, some experts had their doubts, telling the New York Times that the berries may not really be to blame for the birds’ boozy behavior.

    Instead, they credited any avian-versus-window wrecks to big seasonal migrations passing through the town and said it would simply be too early in the season for fermenting fruit to be the culprit.

    “I think this week everybody is yearning for something that we can all laugh at together,” Duluth-based bird expert Laura Erickson told the Times. “Drunken birds sound funny, and they are funny.”

    Even if these particular birds aren’t drunk, there’s some evidence they can turn a little tipsy from fermented fruit, according to the Washington Post. 

    “They just get sloppy and clumsy,” long-time birder Matthew Dodder told the paper. “They have actually fallen out of trees on occasion.”

    Some species—like robins and thrushes—are more apt to engage in drunken debauchery than others. But, as yet, there’ve been no reports of birdies in barroom brawls. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Joan Jett's Bad Reputation

    Joan Jett's Bad Reputation

    “I’ve been hurt,” says Jett. “I’ve had my head split open by a beer bottle, a rib cracked by getting a battery thrown at me—this big metal rig thing….just because I was a girl, I’d get spit on.”

    Bad Reputation is a loving tribute to legendary musician and feminist icon Joan Jett. The trailblazer turned 60 on September 22 and keeps on rocking. At 13, Jett’s parents granted a wish by buying her an electric guitar and amp for Christmas. She had no idea how to play it. At her first lesson, the male teacher said, “Girls don’t play rock and roll.”

    Then the film explodes. Jett screams into a mic:

    I don’t give a damn about my reputation!
    You’re living in the past, it’s a new generation.
    A girl can do what she wants to do and that’s
    What I’m gonna do.

    Go Joan Jett!

    In an exclusive interview for The Fix, director Kevin Kerslake (As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM, Nirvana’s Come As You Are, Bob Marley Legend Remixed) told me, “This film is Joan laid bare. Viewers get to process it on that level. I don’t feel there was anything verboten, you know, forbidden to ask, so the dynamics of her life play out as you see them in the film.”

    Clearly, Kerslake is a fan. He sings her praises, particularly when it comes to Jett’s habit of championing others.

    “Joan’s soul is all about rock and roll,” he told me. “She’s an activist too—for animals and for people. She has produced a lot of albums for musicians she believes in. And, if she gets credit, she immediately ropes in other people to share it with. She’ll never take it solo.”

    Right before receiving that first guitar, Jett had read about a club in Hollywood called the Rodney Bingenheimer English Disco. They were the first to play music by Blondie, Iggy Pop, Bowie, and the Sex Pistols. Archival footage shows boys and girls in heavy makeup, fishnets, leather and sporting nutty hairdos, short skirts and platform shoes.

    “It was a disco for teens,” says Jett in the film. “If you were like 21, you were already too old….It was a club full of weirdos in a city that’s known to be full of weirdos.”

    She says the club played “raunchy music” and some of it she describes as “clean dirty,” meaning it used suggestive double-entendres. But some of it, she says, was just plain dirty.

    “That music hit you in a spot that you couldn’t really describe,” says Jett, “and it made you want to do it. There was [a feeling] down there,” she says, alluding to her vagina. “But as a kid, you can’t quite put your finger on it, yet.”

    Realizing the unintended pun, she grins.

    At 15, Jett was determined to prove that girls could play as well as boys. She formed the all-girl punk band, The Runaways. They became a tight group of friends with the electric energy of adolescents. It’s exciting to watch the ballsy young chicks owning the stage, with Cherie Currie singing their biggest song, “Cherry Bomb.”

    The band showed more promise and gained a bigger following, but the “boys club” of rock ’n roll hated it; apparently their egos were threatened. The Runaways were called “cute” and “sweet,” but as their popularity grew the words changed to “slut, whore, cunt.” Jett says Jimi Hendrix had predicted that women playing rock and roll would be perceived as aliens. That proved true for The Runaways.

    “I’ve been hurt,” says Jett. “I’ve had my head split open by a beer bottle, a rib cracked by getting a battery thrown at me—this big metal rig thing….just because I was a girl, I’d get spit on.”

    In 1977, Joan Jett and her band The Runaways played at CBGBs punk club where I spent many nights of debauchery. I was into concoctions of crystal meth, cocaine, and Bacardi rum, which led to delusions. My skewed thinking told me if I memorized a musician’s lyrics, we had a relationship. Joan Jett knew me as much as I knew her. She seemed invincible.

    When the band fell apart, so did Jett.

    Director Kerslake told me: “She was [self] medicating over losing her band. It was a very dramatic experience in her life—both spiritually and physically. And it almost killed her.”

    “How did I personally deal with the crumbling of The Runaways?” Joan asks in the film. “I drank a lot, starting at eight in the morning.”

    Convinced that LA was laughing at her, Jett imagined everyone thinking: “We told you it wouldn’t work. We said you couldn’t do it.” That’s when she could no longer tolerate living in Tinseltown and split. She moved into a home in the ’burbs that became a party house. Old photos show a crowd of drunk and stoned pals draped around her living room. Jett had sunk to a dark place. Finally, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders pulled her aside and said, “Honey, you gotta pull it together.”

    Jett says, “I was angry. I didn’t know how to make sense of a world that gives girls shit for playing guitars. I thought, ‘Don’t you guys have more important things to be upset about?’”

    One night she became very sick, sweating profusely, and was rushed to the hospital. Kerslake said it was luck that Jett survived. The rocker was told she had a serious heart infection.

    “I considered that a perfect metaphor,” said Kerslake.

    After her diagnosis, Jett knew that her body could not take much more abuse.

    “I thought, I’m going to fucking kill myself.” She quickly clarifies for the viewers that she means accidentally, not by suicide.

    Throughout the film I felt tremendous compassion for Jett. I mean, I could see her strength; she comes across as someone who knows who she is. Despite all that she has accomplished, she also shows sincere humility and gratitude. (Side note: she looks fantastic and still exudes sex appeal.) But I wondered what happens internally to a pioneering performer like her who works for decades in what’s known as a tough industry—especially for women. She’d been just a kid when misogyny was unleashed on her simply because she was a girl who loved playing guitar.

    Then, something beautiful happened. Kenny Laguna came into the picture. He had been a successful hitmaker for bubblegum bands when he first met Jett. She was still drinking then and he describes the beginning of their collaboration:

    “She was hanging out with a bunch of people who all ended up dead.”

    It was true, she’d gotten herself in with a tough crowd that included Sex Pistols’ bass player, Sid Vicious, his girlfriend Nancy, and Stiv Bators, the lead singer of the Dead Boys. Jett refers to herself as “a mess” when she met Laguna. But the musicmaker and his wife Meryl believed in Jett’s talent and recognized her potential so they were willing to take a chance on her despite how beat-up she looked. With Laguna’s help, Jett became a successful solo artist and released the albums Bad Reputation and I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll. Together they started Blackheart Records in the early 80s.

    I was curious how she stopped drinking. That wasn’t disclosed in the film. My guess is that she flat-out wouldn’t talk about that publicly. The movie implies that she just said that’s it and quit. Her hardheaded black and white approach to life would support that method for sure. Still, I would’ve liked to have seen that in the movie. But for me, the most pressing question was about Jett’s love life. Did she have any long-term, significant, romantic relationships? That wasn’t discussed either and I was surprised about that missing chunk of her life. But then Jett herself answers that question at the end of this very engaging flick. (I watched it five times!)

    “Depending on what you think is a normal, regular life,” she says, “being in a band, you’re pretty much all-consumed with it. Is that healthy? I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. Probably not super, but, you know, it’s what I enjoy. I think it makes it difficult to have relationships. That would probably be, if you want to call it that, a sacrifice. To say music is my mate would be a pretty fair statement and I get a lot from it. But it’s not a person. And I think I know the difference.”

    Jett and the Lagunas have been together since 1979 and their affection for each other is evident in the film. They consider each other family. “Joan also has a very close group of friends who all participated in this movie,” Kerslake added.

    This woman smashed the glass ceiling she faced. During her expansive career she’s been racking up multiple platinum and gold records, Top 40 singles, and the blockbuster anthem, “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll.” She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 and Bad Reputation includes a moving clip of her receiving a standing ovation from rock legends—her peers.

    Bad Reputation is now available on iTunes and Amazon Prime.

    View the original article at thefix.com