Film is a medium uniquely able to capture emotional nuance, and that’s especially true when it comes to narratives about addiction. This episode of Beyond Belief Sobriety features an accomplished Hollywood veteran’s encyclopedic look at the many films (far more than you might imagine!) that tackle everything from the reality of relapse to the ripple effect of sobriety on longtime relationships to the intimate ways in which 12-step programs save lives. Ted Perkins has written “Addicted to Film: Movies We Love About the Habits We Hate” for anyone interested in recovery, anyone who loves someone in recovery and anyone who cares about the many impacts that a whole spectrum of addictions have on society. “Movies are really very interesting vehicles to tell some very profound things not just about addiction,” he says, “but the story of people overcoming addiction.”
Host John Sheldon discovers how Ted came to his expertise and why he chose to write this book, which has also inspired a movie club for all of us interested in watching and chatting about fascinating, moving and sometimes funny addiction-related films. In rapid fire succession, Ted is taking us on a tour of movies dating from the 1936 film “Reefer Madness,” with its covert racist agenda, to the 1988 release of “Clean & Sober,” a film with special resonance for John, who got sober that same year. If you’ve ever wondered about multi-dimensional resources out there that you haven’t yet tapped, this episode will equip you with a long list of movies to check out and a deeper understanding of the social, political and scientific trends that have shaped our understanding of addiction and recovery through the decades!
Click here if you’d like to purchase “Addicted to Film: Movies We Love About the Habits We Hate” and don’t miss Ted’s movie club, which you’re invited to join for free here.
Key Takeaways

* Hollywood’s partying culture in combination with the film business’s cyclical nature set the stage for alcohol addiction, which Ted addressed through the Smart Recovery Program.
* After deconstructing more than 100 films with themes touching on addiction and recovery, Ted began to see interesting patterns emerge as well as both heroic and sad narratives worthy of illumination.
* Directors like Blake Edwards and Billy Wilder had to crusade for projects dealing with addiction and recovery – topics that in general made Hollywood executives squeamish.
* Alcoholism as a pathology and real social phenomenon had never been depicted in film prior to Billy Wilder’s 1945 film, “The Lost Weekend.”
* Recovery, relapse and the failure of many people to make it out of the grip of addiction is real and worthy of addressing in the popular culture.
* All about the many layers of “Reefer Madness,” a 1936 film that traces back to the original war on drugs and advanced hidden messages rooted in a racist agenda.
* About the story of “Gia,