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| Gone To Pot: American Road Trip; recent ITV show (Image: The Times) |
I am convinced one of the most contacted companies out there is Ofcom. The media regulator is often inundated with complaints about content provided by British broadcasters. More than 24,000 people complained to the organisation about ITV's Britain's Got Talent airing dance group Diversity's Black Lives Matter protest routine. The same show also received hundreds of complaints because of what judge Amanda Holden was wearing. And shock, horror, Coronation Street attracted controversy when viewers called the soap out for characters not wearing their face masks properly.
These complaints I mentioned were made in the past few short weeks, and collectively almost level the number of complaints Ofcom received in 2019. The regulator is obligated to respond to these, depending on how much of a headache they're causing. The biggest culprits, arguably, are reality and talent shows - I mentioned Britain's Got Talent earlier, but programmes like I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here and Big Brother often get complained about, often because of things that are out of the hands of producers and directors. While they can control how actors wear face coverings, they cannot control what comes out of contestant's mouths if their offence is live.
When you look at the complaints made in recent years, in my eyes, the gripes of the nation are petty. You are within your rights to be concerned about political or protest messaging on primetime television, or express your anger about how a personality is dressed, but to me, these intolerances go too far. Using the examples I raised before, Diversity was invited to perform and used a platform to convey how its members felt about race. They didn't say 'You should feel our anger and shame on you if you don't.' And surely, Amanda Holden can wear whatever she finds comfortable and not feel the need to wear multiple layers in case a small number of influenced children may want to emulate. She isn't saying, by any means, 'Oh, I'm wearing a low-cut dress, I urge every girl and woman to do the same.' If Diversity and Holden did say these, then heck, I'd join the thousands expressing concern.
While I don't want to influence what, when, or how, people complain to Ofcom, I strongly feel they are going about it in a way that ruins it for the vast majority of TV viewers who are indifferent to what they see. In fact, it probably causes more annoyance to the wider public when shows like Britain's Got Talent have to explain themselves and apologise, when saying sorry isn't necessary.
Where am I going with this? If anyone is to complain about a show, it should be towards those who showcase content that normalises controversial topics that impacts society. People who know me appreciate my pure dislike towards drug taking, of any kind - and that certain drugs should not see the light of day. However, we still see powerful marijuana, cocaine or heroin being sold in the black market, and are easily accessible and cheap, is absolutely beyond me.
Politicians haven't grappled this so-called 'war on drugs'. They've handled the drug policy so badly, the campaigns to legalise marijuana has intensified and winning people over. On the flip side of it, a dark reality of drug taking takes shape; addiction and death numbers are rising, and there is a lack of awareness around how reliance on drugs can impact our physical and mental health. Drug-related deaths have reached record levels in the UK, while in 2016, 24% of young people in the country reported to have tried a drug, an increase of 11% from two years previous.
These statistics are shocking but the tragic inevitability is that they won't decrease anytime soon, purely because the entertainment industry has normalised drug use; you think about TV shows, popular music lyrics, the list goes on. I'm currently watching a short drama series, Us, on BBC One. In my eyes, it's a terrific drama and when it ends, I'm happy to recommend it to others. However, there was a part of episode two that really annoyed me. The protagonists visited Amsterdam and the main male, played by Tom Hollander, asked for something to calm his nerves and escape from his problems - he was given marijuana. In addition to this, his character's 18-year-old son was allowed to roam around parts of the Dutch city notorious for its drug use. The drama is based on a book which, while I'm sure it has drug references, for it to be shown on national TV - okay, yes, post-watershed - to me, still shocks me.
I may sound prudish, but drug taking is a trend that is continuing across TV, and are being accessed by all age groups. Teenagers watch shows beyond 9pm, and young people have decent access to streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, even if parental controls have tightened somewhat in recent months. I've only given Us as an example as it's in my immediate mind - there are tonnes of other dramas, films and reality shows that normalises the use of marijuana or other drugs (like Gone To Pot, pictured above, where popular British celebrities toured the US and had a bit of fun with cannabis), and this needs to change. You can argue popular culture has always normalised drugs but there isn't a reason as to why this should still be acceptable today.
How can it change without legalisation? Firstly, drug taking should be broadcasted less and if they are shown, there needs to be a greater emphasis on considering all elements of consumption. While smoking marijuana can have a calming effect on the user, you can also feel intense paranoia - and frequent users are likely to be negatively impacted, mentally. Showing characters using drugs as a one-off isn't helpful in that sense, as it gives the impression that this is perfectly acceptable and it won't hurt.
As one hopes to see a decline in drug use in popular culture, politicians need to take stronger stances against the easy accessibility and cheapness of illegal and strong drugs, bought from the black market. Prosecution should be directed at those who drive the black market and make millions from it, not the users who want them for innocent reasons. Those who plant marijuana in their homes should also feel some legal strain too. While I am in general support of CBD (non-psychoactive element of cannabis) for those with chronic pain or seizures, it shouldn't expand to those who wish to use it recreationally as we're starting to see already.
Tackling the use of illegal drugs should be high on the government's agenda and while I appreciate Covid-19 and Brexit continues to dominate their thoughts, actually drug taking has relevance to the former. With rising unemployment and people in dire straits, too many will think about resorting to dark temptations to escape from their exhausting reality. It will be interesting to see if addiction levels or death rates continue to rise, and once they do, Westminster must act, and quick, as gangs are often a step ahead. In the meantime, TV and music influencers have a role to play too.
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