The movie “The Spectacular Now,” directed by James Ponsoldt and starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley is a coming-of-age drama focusing on seniors in high school dealing with graduating, the future, and their own family issues. The leading character, Sutter Keely, played by Miles Teller, goes through personal and social issues, and tends to turn to alcohol in order to deal with these problems. Sutter shows risks as well as signs that can likely lead to alcoholism, and while not the main focus is an underlying motif throughout the entire movie. The first few scenes of the movie show just how badly Sutter’s alcohol intake is. As he writes an essay about himself, he reflects on different memories, all of which involve the consumption of
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It’s told that he left Sutter’s mother a long time ago, and when Sutter finally meets him again he is distant, forgetful, and spacey. He forgets that his own son was coming to visit him, and forgets Amy’s name not too long after he first meets her. He also seems to have to take a long time to think of what he wants to say and the actor clearly shows a stagger whenever he walks around. This is almost the exact definition of Wernicke’s disease, a disorder associated with chronic heavy drinking, which, “is characterized by confusion, loss of memory, staggering gait, and an inability to focus the eye” (224). The movie never explicitly says his father is suffering from such a disorder, but it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to imagine he is, especially given that he was only present for a few scenes. He displays an indifferent attitude with bad judgement for what little we see of him. As previously mentioned, he gave Sutter his first beer when he was six years old. When we really meet him, he makes many bad choices, as first he’s bringing his long-forgotten son to a bar when he is still underage, then he’s bringing over multiple pitchers of beers to share with his son, and then he decides to ditch seeing his son who he hadn’t seen in years in favor of continuing to drink at the bar with his friends. He serves as an all too real warning to Sutter about what he may become if he doesn’t pick up his act quickly and get his life together, something his dad never
It’s told that he left Sutter’s mother a long time ago, and when Sutter finally meets him again he is distant, forgetful, and spacey. He forgets that his own son was coming to visit him, and forgets Amy’s name not too long after he first meets her. He also seems to have to take a long time to think of what he wants to say and the actor clearly shows a stagger whenever he walks around. This is almost the exact definition of Wernicke’s disease, a disorder associated with chronic heavy drinking, which, “is characterized by confusion, loss of memory, staggering gait, and an inability to focus the eye” (224). The movie never explicitly says his father is suffering from such a disorder, but it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to imagine he is, especially given that he was only present for a few scenes. He displays an indifferent attitude with bad judgement for what little we see of him. As previously mentioned, he gave Sutter his first beer when he was six years old. When we really meet him, he makes many bad choices, as first he’s bringing his long-forgotten son to a bar when he is still underage, then he’s bringing over multiple pitchers of beers to share with his son, and then he decides to ditch seeing his son who he hadn’t seen in years in favor of continuing to drink at the bar with his friends. He serves as an all too real warning to Sutter about what he may become if he doesn’t pick up his act quickly and get his life together, something his dad never