Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this documentary series takes an unflinching look at an addict's life in all its rawness and desperation. It can be painful to watch others make terrible choices, but it's ultimately enlightening to see them get on the right path (if they're lucky). Footage of some of the addicts' problem behaviors (like drug use and excessive drinking) is included.
Families can talk about what addiction means, how it starts, and the havoc it can wreak on a person's life. How can you tell if someone's an addict? What's an intervention? Can an addict pull back from the brink without an intervention? What role does an addict's family play in recovery?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: S. Jhoanna Robledo
Talk about tough love: If anything could scare somebody away from using and abusing drugs and alcohol, surely watching the people who depend on them fall deeper and deeper into their own personal hell should do the trick. That's the idea behind INTERVENTION, a graphic documentary series that follows the horrific journey from addiction to -- hopefully -- redemption.
In many ways, the show's premise works. It's straightforward, no-holds-barred, and uncensored, which is really the only way to address the topic. The subjects are shown drinking and drugging, and the results of their actions are also made clear; ambivalence would only water down the series' impact.
Just a few examples: A blond, still-handsome, once-successful mortgage broker sleeps on a random rooftop, his prized condo lost to cocaine use; an FBI driving instructor falls from the top of his game after drinking too much and gets a near-fatal diagnosis; a divorcee faces the prospect of losing everyone she loves. It's last call, and everyone's too far gone.
But though there's little sentimentality (thus reducing the risk of turning the show to an after-school special), when you watch Intervention, it's hard not to feel like a rubbernecker staring at an accident that's best left behind closed doors. It's easy to feel like an intruder, especially when the addict's friends and family sit down to confront him or her in the titular intervention.
Nevertheless, this show is truly a learning experience (as well as full of cautionary messages for teens). And not just for those involved in each episode, but for those watching, too. Especially when, via postcripts to each episode, viewers discover that a subject didn't wind up living happily ever after.
Fans of Intervention might also like MADE and True Life.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentAddicts often indulge in risky sexual behaviors (including unprotected sex or sex with strangers), acts that are sometimes alluded to in the show. |
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ViolenceSelf-injury is as violent as it gets, though some fights have broken out. For example, in one episode, a cracked-up young man got into a fistfight with another and threw a computer at him. |
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LanguageSubjects often swear, especially when agitated or upset, using everything from "damn" to "f--k" (the harsher words are bleeped). |
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Social BehaviorAddicts often live on the edge, resulting in some questionable acts of racism, sexism, and even crime. That said, the goal of the show is to help people turn their lives around and get a second chance. |
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CommercialismThe show is very low-key about product awareness. Paying attention to labels isn't the point. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoSubstance abuse is at the heart of the show, so everything's on display here (paraphernalia, the act of getting high, etc.). |
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