Talk:List of fictional alcoholics
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Homer Simpson, an alcoholic? Isn't that stretching it a bit? Juppiter 23:46, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- LOL Well, from Alcoholism --
- The CAGE questionnaire, developed by Dr. John Ewing ... may be used to screen patients quickly ... Two "yes" responses for a male ... indicate that the respondent should be investigated further.
- - Have you ever felt you needed to cut down on your drinking?
- - Have people annoyed you by criticising your drinking?
- - Have you ever felt guilty about drinking?
- - Have you ever felt you needed a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover (eye-opener)?
- - Have you ever got in a fight due to drinking?
- How does Homer score on this? -- 18 October 2005
I think they've indicated he is in least to a degree. I'm more unsure on Bender. Yeah he drinks a great deal of alcohol, but from the second episode on they've been consistent that he does this to power his circuits. When he became a Robotologist he switched to some specialty oil fairly easily. So what he said in the first episode, "I can quit any time I want" is kind of true. He was a recovering addict, he was addicted to electricity, but I don't know where you'd place that.--T. Anthony 07:34, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
- Bender still counts, I think, since his drinking is being used as satire about alcoholism. Perhaps you could put a note under his entry detailing his alcohol use (see "Reworked page" below), or if it really bothers you, you can always delete him ^^; -- Taiichi «talk» 08:29, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
- Nahh, I don't care that much about it.--T. Anthony 09:42, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
Should we divide the list between characters depicted as alcoholics and those who are recovering alcholics? And what's the cutoff between character who's a heavy drinker and one who's an alcoholic? --Paul Soth 22:50, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)
I question the inclusion of Rick Deckard - Blade Runner here. He does get reasonably inebriated at one point in the film, but we could chalk this up to going through some stressful circumstances. We don't really have enough information to say that he is habitually "an alcoholic". -- 18 October 2005
- Agreed. In Blade Runner alcoholism is not an issue for Deckard; The book reference is a recent addition and I suspect added only because someone recognized the character name - I searched online and find no substantial info that Deckard (in book or film) was alcoholic. I am working on a revision of this page and will remove Deckard from the list, unless someone who's actually read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep can verify that Deckard qualifies. Taiichi 2 21:05, 3 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Reworked page
I reformatted the page, separating out characters by "art-form" and some general formatting and cleaning up. I also added an introduction to the page, and the "Dynamic List" template; and I added a few names (as well as removing Rick Deckard, since his inclusion was rather questionable [see above]). I removed details other than those necessary to identify a character, as much of this should go on the appropriate page. I left details which seemed be an argument for their alcoholic nature, where it seemed that a character's inclusion would otherwise be debatable (cf. Winky, Dr. Sado, etc.)
[edit] Bernice Summerfield
I'd just like to express my doubts here. Benny is certainly fond of a drink, possibly to excess,, but I'm not sure she's ever been shown as dependant upon it. I've missed a lot of the post-Who stuff, so ICBW. Daibhid C 15:46, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
Hawkeye from MASH shouldn't be on the list - yes he drinks, but firstly, so does nearly everyone else on the show, and secondly, there's only one episode where his drinking is addressed, and he's not portrayed as an alcoholic.
[edit] Original Research & Verifiability
I'm a bit concerned that much of this list: 1) borders on original research in that many of these examples are personal interpretations, and 2) suffers from verifiability problems. To make the list a specific, authoritative source should be cited -- not just a memorable scene that may be open to interpretation.
Not all of these characters have had it plainly spelled-out in the book, film, or TV show that they suffer from alcoholism. In several instances, characters seem to make the list just because they were depicted drunk in a single, memorable instance (Zephram Cochrane of Star Trek is a good example). My concern is this: what verifiable, reliable source can we cite for each of these characters establishing his/her alcoholism? Not just drinking, but alcoholism. Remember: being alcoholic doesn't mean being drunk; to my knowledge Don Cragen of Law & Order has never been depicted inebriated, yet his past alcoholism has been mentioned incontrovertibly in several episodes.
If a work of fiction doesn't come right out and say it, then we're guilty of speculation ... a violation of original research. So-and-So is an alcoholic, not because the original source material says it, but rather because some readers (or viewers) have interpreted this-or-that scene in a certain way. Unless we can cite specific, non-ambiguous examples, I think this list needs to be seriously pruned. 66.17.118.195 20:59, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
