If the purpose of an artist is to fully capture the most realistic depiction of addiction, will it be through literature or film? Addiction has been deeply expressed through both mediums, and, therefore, it becomes a difficult choice. The answer depends on the particular artist. If a master like Nikolai Gogol were to address addiction in literature and an amateur filmmaker were to try and address it in film, the better work would be readily apparent. On the other hand, if a genius of a director like Stanley Kubrick were to be asked to depict addiction in film while a novice writer tried to do it in a novel, the choice would once more be quite straightforward. But if we were to ask a master of literature and a master of cinema to represent addiction, determining which medium is better suited to the topic becomes far more ambiguous.
“Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him.”
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
If the purpose of an artist is to fully capture the most realistic depiction of addiction, will it be through literature or film? Addiction has been deeply expressed through both mediums, and, therefore, it becomes a difficult choice. The answer depends on the particular artist. If a master like Nikolai Gogol were to address addiction in literature and an amateur filmmaker were to try and address it in film, the better work would be readily apparent. On the other hand, if a genius of a director like Stanley Kubrick were to be asked to depict addiction in film while a novice writer tried to do it in a novel, the choice would once more be quite straightforward. But if we were to ask a master of literature and a master of cinema to represent addiction, determining which medium is better suited to the topic becomes far more ambiguous.
Fortunately, masters of literature and filmmaking have used addiction as a focal point in their art. In cinema, we have films like Whiplash, Shame, Trainspotting, Black Swan, and The Wolf of Wall Street. These movies have won Oscars across multiple categories, are considered top-tier filmmaking, and each explores addiction as a central theme. While most of these films focus on a specific type of addiction, The Wolf of Wall Street stands out for portraying multiple forms of addiction simultaneously, with its central character embodying an addiction to excess rather than any singular vice. Some of the greatest directors, cinematographers, and actors bring these portrayals to life.
In literature, we have a group of writers who can confidently rival the likes of Martin Scorsese. Works such as The Queen of Spades, The Overcoat, The Old Man and the Sea, Crime and Punishment, and Lost Illusions showcase some of the greatest authors in history, each using addiction as a central theme in their narratives. The addictions portrayed in these novels differ significantly from those depicted in the films mentioned earlier. Here, we encounter addiction to a gambling ruse, to fame, to an overcoat, to a fish, and to superiority.
We are on equal footing when comparing these two mediums. To answer which medium most accurately portrays addiction, we will compare one film and one novel. A fair comparison is Whiplash and Crime and Punishment. Both works delve into addiction in their purest form, and the strengths of both mediums can be confidently represented. Whiplash is an Oscar-winning film, while Crime and Punishment is world-renowned for its unparalleled psychological depth.
The way to answer this question is: Does the story succeed in making the audience feel the weight of addiction that the characters experience? Understanding alone is not enough; does the feeling effectively transfer to the audience? To explore this, we must first understand how addiction feels. While we are discussing a variety of addictions, the core experience of addiction remains the same. A study by psychologist and neuroscientist Dr. Marc Lewis, titled “Addiction and the Brain: Development, Not Disease”, found that addiction—regardless of its form—has a similar neurological effect on the brain. Whether it is alcohol, drugs, or gambling, the effects on the brain are strikingly similar. Substance and behavioral addictions are almost indistinguishable psychologically (Lewis, 9).
Dr. Lewis writes, “Addiction without substances. One of the greatest blows to the current notion of addiction as a disease is the fact that behavioral addictions can be just as severe as substance addictions. However, the party line of NIDA, the AMA, and ASAM remains what it has been for decades: addiction is primarily caused by substance abuse. If that were so, how would we explain addictions to porn, sex, internet games, food, and gambling? In a comprehensive review, Brewer and Potenza conclude that disorders characterized by too much of any of the above show brain activation patterns that are nearly identical to those shown in drug addiction” (Lewis, 12).
For our purposes, the specific type of addiction is not the focus. What matters is the feeling of addiction, as this is the lens through which we will assess the competition. Dr. Lewis identifies three primary aspects of addiction: intense craving, reward or relief, and, ultimately, guilt, anxiety, or withdrawal. He describes addiction as an intensely emotional experience, with feelings of craving, guilt, and relief reaching their peak when one is addicted. With the insight from Dr. Lewis, we have the core feeling that addiction can bring about; hence, this makes our question easier to work with. The medium which does this most effectively would have to be decided based on how each captures addiction and its three important stages for the audience.
In such a contest, to determine which medium is superior, one must consider the specifics in terms of what particular tools each have to work with. It becomes necessary to consider what filmmakers do specifically to show addiction and how authors do the same thing outside of simple narration. This would entail discussing things such as symbolism, cinematography, music, lighting, and stream of consciousness.
First, let me do a quick rundown for those who haven’t seen Whiplash or read Crime and Punishment. Whiplash is a 2014 film directed by Damien Chazelle, starring Miles Teller as the main character. It follows Andrew, a college drummer whose sole ambition is to become one of the greatest drummers of all time. Isolated and obsessive, Andrew is fully dedicated to his road to success at any price. His instructor is an abusive, implacable taskmaster who pushes Andrew to his physical and psychological limits. With expert acting, cinematography, editing, scoring, and directing, this film provides a powerful psychological look at addiction in all its dimensions.
Crime and Punishment, written by Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1866, follows Raskolnikov, a character who is both isolated and obsessive. His obsession revolves around superiority; he idolizes figures like Napoleon and subscribes to the philosophy that exceptional individuals, like Napoleon, are above the law. He argues that such individuals can commit crimes without scrutiny because their greatness justifies their actions. This obsession gradually takes a darker turn as Raskolnikov commits murder, only to be consumed by anxiety and guilt over the punishment for his crime. The novel offers a profound psychological exploration of Raskolnikov’s mind and vividly illustrates the three stages of addiction in their full effect.
How effectively does Damien Chazelle make his audience feel the weight of an addiction? For this film, the addiction portrayed is one to success—specifically, an addiction to drumming. The protagonist, Andrew, dedicates his entire life to becoming the best drummer he can possibly be. The film effectively communicates his immense desire for success in several ways. Andrew is seldom seen doing and talking about other things than drumming. The musical score is dominated by the sequences of drumming. The non-drumming events are usually on the screen for a minimal length of time, for example, the rehearsal for 20 minutes while the date only lasts more than a minute.
Extreme close-ups abound, most often focusing on the state of Andrew’s emotions: he is most often sweating, with an intensity burning in his eyes. Similarly, the camera lingers on injuries to his hands-the extreme physical cost of his relentless practice. The movements are highly dynamic, too, whipping back and forth during scenes to create a disorienting, intense experience mirroring Andrew’s obsessive mindset.
The lighting throughout the movie is dark, and at times it even seems there is a spotlight on Andrew and his drumkit just to let viewers know the drums are the only focus of his life. There are several scenes in the movie where only the drum kit can be seen while everything else around it is covered in darkness. Slow motion is used frequently to make points regarding Andrew’s hyperfocus and state of mind as close-ups show sweat droplets falling onto the drum kit.
Andrew is constantly in front of the mirror, a clear indication that he is judging himself. Each time, he disapproves of what he sees, further indicating his relentless need to improve. He is constantly framed as being alone and separate from the world. Even when he is on stage, playing with a full band, the framing isolates him, placing him as if he is completely alone. This tableau of isolation makes poignantly visible the sacrifices which Andrew has made to ambition and the cost he is continuing to bear.
The second step towards addiction is reward and relief. There are some moments in the movie when Andrew reaches small successes: he is promoted to lead drummer or hears words of praise from his instructor. These are the only moments when Andrew shows positive emotional responses. He is never shown in a state of pure joy, even when he goes to the cinema with his father or on a date. In both cases, he comes off as being somewhat affectless. The best this can be defined is by Mikhail Lermontov’s observation: “His eyes never laughed when he laughed. Have you ever noticed this peculiarity of some people? It is either the sign of an evil nature or of a profound and lasting sorrow (Lermontov, 82)”. It can be safely said that Andrew did not have an evil nature; rather, he carried a deep and enduring sorrow—the sorrow of not yet becoming the success he aspired to be. This sorrow was reflected in his eyes throughout the film, no matter the situation. The only fleeting moments of joy that seemed to flash across his face were those directly related to his drumming.
Anxiety and guilt mark the third stage, which the film depicts constantly. One of the ways the movie has shown this is through complete silence; no sound is heard, with the score completely silent, as it would show the depth of emotion in Andrew. The silent moments are those where his anxiety has reached its maximum, for example, when, on his way to his performance, he gets hit by a car and arrives late. This silence is symbolic of how his brain has shut down, operating on a mechanical basis rather than humanly. Even after the accident, he gets up and keeps on going, like some sort of Terminator, until he finally collapses and lands in the hospital.
This phase is further depicted through his guilt in connection with breaking the ties with the girlfriend during his first stage craving, where Andrew claimed she gets in the way of his ultimate aspirations, greatness as a drummer. During his guilt-ridden stages, this issue haunts him further where he tries for reconciliation, it is too late. Later, after his hospitalization, he blames his instructor for his state of mind and gets him fired as the conductor of the school orchestra. Feeling guilty over this action too, he tries to make amends. The above instances of guilt and anxiety depict how this obsession towards success took its toll on his psyche.
To better understand Andrew’s psyche, it is important to refer to psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud used psychoanalysis on the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci through Da Vinci’s letters, notebooks, and artistic works in his essay Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood. Da Vinci and Andrew were both obsessive and driven individuals who threw themselves completely into their work for perfection. Freud cited Leonardo Da Vinci as a perfect example of sublimation, wherein the creative genius was a result of repressed desires of the individual. Da Vinci’s unconscious desires, according to Freud, were channeled into socially acceptable outlets, his art being the medium for his unfulfilled impulses (Freud, 1964).
He was of the opinion that all art represented an expression of the artist’s unconscious mind. As Freud scanned the artist’s most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, his interest in the mind of Da Vinci grew even further. The mysterious smile associated with this most famous portrait of the Mona Lisa, to Freud, was Da Vinci’s unresolved mother complex. Da Vinci wrote extensively of the early separation from his mother-a separation which Freud believed had left a lasting wound. To Freud, the Mona Lisa was the smile of a mother who does not love her son, a haunting memory of abandonment which had clung to Da Vinci throughout his life. Freud thus believed Da Vinci, through sublimation, became fixated on seeking the acceptance of the mother who had forsaken him.
Likewise, Andrew suffers from severe paternal problems, particularly with his father. In the dinner table scene, it is clear that his father gives preferential treatment to his cousins. While one cousin, who engages in football, is celebrated due to his field success, the drummer, Andrew, is mocked by his father with sarcasm, “heard from Lincoln center?” which essentially implies that his goals are impossible to attain and not even worth being given attention. Like Da Vinci, Andrew is driven by sublimation or a desperate need for paternal approval. Addiction can be compared to an iceberg: what appears above the water-ambition, drive, commitment-represents only the tip of unresolved emotional wounds, particularly repression and paternal neglect.
Andrew is alienated from society in the film. He has no friends, his relationship with his family is strained, and he cuts ties with his girlfriend. This sense of alienation parallels another characteristic associated with Da Vinci. Freud noted that Da Vinci sublimated his emotional needs into an obsessive drive for greatness. In this way, both Andrew and Da Vinci sought perfection in order to get acceptance from the society to which they were outsiders. For both men, the elusiveness of fame and success mirrored the emotional completeness each of them so desperately craved.
Freud further noticed that Da Vinci had a perfectionist mind and a strong desire for an ideal self. In the same way, Andrew’s ideal was Buddy Rich, the great drummer who became a steady reference for Andrew as the culmination of success. Rich had gained the social acceptance that Andrew so desperately desires. During the dinner table scene, Andrew says, “I would rather die drunk, broke at 34 and have people at a dinner table talk about me than live to be rich and sober at 90 and nobody remembered who I was.” What Andrew utters here epitomizes the culmination of his aspiration: the social validation of other people, most especially his family, who overtly belittle him in that very dinner. Drumming wasn’t really Andrew’s passion, much like art for Da Vinci. Both found in their respective crafts the ways to answer the emotional vacuum and unmet needs that were driving them incessantly.
Whiplash masterfully depicts all three stages of addiction, making the audience experience each stage to its fullest intensity. The tools available to filmmakers—lighting, score, cinematography, and acting—play a significant role in telling this story while offering the audience a visceral glimpse into the experience of addiction. Andrew’s psyche is incredibly complex and through studying other dedicated artists like Leonardo Da Vinci we can better understand the root cause of his addiction.
At first glance, it might seem that a novelist is at a disadvantage, armed only with pen and paper, while the filmmaker has an arsenal of visual and auditory tools. However, if you believe that, you’ve likely never read a book by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Addiction is a deeply psychological experience, and Dostoevsky is the undisputed master of psychological fiction. Sigmund Freud wrote an article exploring Dostoevsky’s masterful portrayals of addiction, linking them to Dostoevsky’s own struggles with gambling, which provided him with profound insight into the topic (Freud, 1928).
Dostoyevsky portrays craving by allowing the protagonist of the novel, Raskolnikov, to develop an idea that occupies his mind: the belief that some people, like Napoleon, are superior and hence above the law. Raskolnikov becomes obsessed with this notion of superiority, taking it to the extreme by committing murder. Through constant narration, Dostoyevsky vividly illustrates Raskolnikov’s craving for superiority. Intense narcissism pervades his mind and opens the doors to the innermost conflictive and unstable self of his feelings, which, within minutes, can turn from happiness into despair, and with his obsessive thoughts focused on his work. The self-justification is a constant feature of Raskolnikov’s mentality, but so it can be among all kinds of addicts. Thus, he cannot stop idealizing Napoleon, as confirmation of his own greatness. Throughout the novel, the stream-of-consciousness technique allows Dostoyevsky to record Raskolnikov’s precarious mental state or show his disintegration of consciousness because it is compulsive. One is often uncertain whether Raskolnikov is in a world of fantasy or reality.
The second stage of reward and relief flashes for brief instances when Raskolnikov feels moments of superiority, such as being hailed as a hero by a poor family struggling to survive. These moments are very short-lived, though, as the third stage of anxiety dominates his consciousness to become his main emotional state throughout the novel.
The third stage of guilt and anxiety began much earlier in the novel since, at an early stage of events, Raskolnikov committed a murder. However, more exactly, anxiety, not very much connected with guilt, has taken possession of him and overmastered all the story after that. Raskolnikov was haunted with incredible nightmares, which reveal such a psychological position of him-the border between real and unreal-is seriously blurred by this for Raskolnikov and the reader. This technique further enhances the sense of unease, making the narrator appear increasingly unreliable in the novel’s second half. The chaotic setting of St. Petersburg mirrors Raskolnikov’s claustrophobic and anxious mindset, amplifying the psychological tension.
This deep access to Raskolnikov’s thoughts allows the audience to witness all three stages of addiction in remarkable detail. Literature provides unparalleled psychological depth, immersing readers in the character’s anxiety and obsessive behaviors. Tools like symbolism and stream-of-consciousness narration enable Dostoyevsky to vividly portray Raskolnikov’s fragile and unreliable mental state, drawing readers into his unraveling psyche.
Both Crime and Punishment and Whiplash show addiction masterfully, depicting all three stages of the process and submerging the audience into the mindset of the main character. Each medium is used to its fullest, showing the distinct strengths of both film and literature in their portrayals. These works capture addiction so well that it allows the audience to experience the obsession, reward, and anxiety tied to it. The question posed in this essay ultimately depends on the discretion of the person reading it, as art is subjective. Dostoyevsky wrote “nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him (Dostoyevsky, 292)”.
Both narratives lead their audience successfully toward the roots of addiction and building a sympathetic attitude for their protagonists. They don’t let us judge ultra-obsessed characters but enter deep into the psychological aspects in front of the psyche, as that of our psyche, for their decision. To truly find the answer of which medium is the better medium to accurately portray and capture human experiences we must expand further from only addiction. To reference the concluding remarks in Crime and Punishment “this might make the subject of a new story, but our present story has ended (518)”.
References
- Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Vintage Classics, 1992.
- Freud, Sigmund. “Dostoevsky and Parricide.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, edited and translated by James Strachey, vol. 21, Hogarth Press, 1928, pp. 177–194.
- Freud, Sigmund. Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood. Translated by Alan Tyson, W. W. Norton & Company, 1964.
- Lermontov, Mikhail. A Hero of Our Time. Translated by Vladimir Nabokov and Dmitri
- Nabokov, New York Review Books Classics, 2004.
- Lewis, Marc. “Addiction and the Brain: Development, Not Disease.” Neuroethics, vol. 10, no. 1, 2017, pp. 7–18.
