Humphery Bogart's last words: "I should never have switched from Scotch to martinis"

Like all of you, I was lying in bed thinking about Supernatural.

Ok, maybe not *all* of you, just the ones emotionally arrested at thirteen years old.

The show presses all the teenage girl romance buttons: it stars two beautiful guys with sad back-stories and hearts of gold. And I love it.

But tonight, I started thinking about how important Dean's drinking has become to Supernatural. In the world of the show, his drinking is a sign of: his manly vigor; his toughness; his vulnerability. In short, his drinking is a big stamp of hotness.

Then, I started thinking, of course, that this show comes from the CW. The same people who brought us 17-year old, alcoholic fan-dance club owner Chuck.

And I don't get it. Ok, so the average CW viewer is maybe fourteen. And that high school freshman might very well think of drinking as adult and sexy. But really, writers? I know *you* know that drinking is... kind of gross.

I like booze as much as anybody, but really-- being (girl)friends with somebody who drinks too much is HORRIBLE.

-sweats gin and hogs the bed because he's *knocked out*? yay!
-loses it at a party, but is too heavy for you to get home on your own? yay!
-shirtless and sobbing in public? yay!
-slobbery kisses (and etc)? yay!
-happens to be standing there when he needs to pee, so, of course, pees *right there*? yay!
-Excersists dinner all over your toilet, but is too sick to clean it up? yay!
-has paramedics invade your apt. or sends you on a trip to the hospital b/c he's in over his head, drink-wise? yay!
-pretending his behavior doesn't reflect badly on you? yay!

Not "very special episode" bad, but also not as as cute as pouring some brown liquid in a glass or down a pretty boy's throat.

I'm not saying Supernatural or Gossip Girl has to be a PSA (god forbid). But I do think that having characters swilling it while driving, or drinking *all the time* with no social consequences is inauthentic and (even) a lost opportunity.

Seriously, it puts a different spin on Sam's behavior when you think-- forty hours a week, he's stuck in a car driven by a drinker. For one, it makes more sense that he seems to kind of hate Dean lately (forty hours a week stuck next to a sad drunk?! aaagh). For another, it makes more sense when Sam moans about Dean being weak.

And it puts a different spin on the whole Blaire/Chuck relationship (at least for me) when you think-- here's a smart and idealistic but often self-destructive girl trying to tie herself to a drunk. In those terms, I want to scream at her to run.

Why do you think Supernatural and Gossip Girl shows so much drinking, but so little drunk?