Cannabis-infused posmodern narratives on American Television

Abstract

This study focuses on the norms and values communicated about the use of cannabis in contemporary American TV shows. Traditionally, the eye of the camera has rendered illicit drug use as a private activity by. This dimension of voyeurism (seeing something from an outside perspective which one is not supposed to see) communicates its own normative messages of what is and is not appropriate. However, a key assumption of this project is that presentations of cannabis use in television shows are moving away from this traditional conception, bringing use out of the shadows and into the forefront. Broad City (2014-2019), which features creators Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, and High Maintenance (2012-2020), by Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld, demonstrate a new wave of visualization for cannabis usage that addresses the ambiguity of posmodernism and highlight human relationships regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, and age without bestowing any negative stereotypes. We conclude that these shows demonstrate change both in the depiction of cannabis on television and in setting the standard about how human beings ought to treat each other.