The War at Home
No, not Iraq or anything like that. This is about a dumb new sitcom I happened to catch while numbly flipping channels last night. I haven’t watched a non-animated network sitcom in 25 years, so I’m not really up on all the tricks of the trade, but I assume that “The War at Home” is pretty much par for the course. The situation involves a beleaguered, somewhat thick-headed (and foul-mouthed) father in his late 30s, his wife, and family of three teen-ish kids. Misunderstandings, confrontations, to-the-camera monologues, and lots of “witty” insults supply the comedy.
I don’t know what made me stop and watch. Really, I hate this kind of stuff. When I tuned in, Dad was in a panic because he couldn’t find the stash of pot he keeps in his night table drawer. His wife launches a predictable tantrum – “what do you mean you still have pot in the house?” Ha ha, very funny.
Then something genuinely unexpected happened. It turned out that the wife was upset because she wanted some pot too, and was angry that her husband was hoarding it. There followed an amusing argument and flashback about how the wife tends to act like an idiot when stoned. The couple then realized that one of their kids probably found the stash – most likely their oldest daughter (about 15 or 16). Hilarity ensues as they confront the daughter and wind up making some crazy excuse about the pot being for their grandmother (medical use and all…), leading to even greater misunderstandings.
As comedy, it was about par for the low-rent course. What was interesting is how pot use by a normal middle-class family was dealt with as a standard plot device, without any overtones of anti-drug moralism (other than to mock the hypocrisy of it). No one was cast in the role of the scold or the tragic victim, no one got busted, and the use of marijuana was shown in a remarkably realistic way – people got silly, a little stupid, and had some fun.
Because I hardly ever watch network TV, I can’t say for sure that this represented some kind of a breakthrough in the way harmless drug use is represented in the media. But it was definitely new to me, and really pretty hopeful if it represents some kind of trend. I’m not endorsing “The War at Home” as brilliant television. Most of the non-drug humor was pretty coarse and trite, and the character roles were in all other respects grossly stereotyped.
Still, as someone who desperately yearns for some sanity and realism to enter into our discussion of drugs and drug policy (particularly around marijuana) in this country, seeing a realistic depiction of harmless pot use on a dumb, average show was almost better than seeing it on some critically-acclaimed adult drama (e.g., Six Feet Under). Big, serious shows draw the fire of culture warriors who take these things seriously. “The War at Home” is so unexceptional and aims so low that it may sneak under the radar and actually succeed in propagating sane opinions to counteract all the propaganda among people who don’t spend their time thinking much about these issues.
10:24:04 AM 
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