Netflix recently celebrated a super-hit mini-series named “The Queen’s Gambit” starring Anya Joy-Taylor. The show follows young Elizabeth (Beth) Harmon, a 1950’s American orphan-turned-prodigy whose chess genius coexists tumultuously with her substance abuse problems. It throws light on the ease of access and reliance on substances and pills in America at the time, the prevalence of improper social support facilities for orphans and the struggles of addiction and recovery. For the most part, despite being a profit-seeking production, it does justice to several themes it explores. However, I believe there are some fundamental incongruencies between its objective and outcome.
The opening episode follows a young Beth who exists in a troubled home. Her mother Alice lives with severe mental health disorders and soon after her divorce from Beth’s father, takes her own life, leaving Beth a survivor and orphan. Beth joins the local Methuen Girls orphanage where she discovers the world of chess and substances.
1950s America sustained a heavy culture of tranquillizer dependence and the show explores this theme with delicateness. According to Susan Speaker (1997), America’s dependence began with a minor tranquillizer Miltown (meprobamate) which alleviated anxiety and mood. Soon, benzodiazepines such as Librium and Valium succeeded in the same manner. In the show, the orphanage is seen administering Xanzolam, a fictional drug similar to Librium, to help the children maintain decorum. In the meantime, Beth begins playing chess with the orphanage janitor and excelling in her performance. When she experiences stress in chess or school, she begins to take more pills than required and notices their calming effects.
The show introduces the psychological and environmental risk factors of substance use disorder (SUD). Firstly, the show traces the consequences of early trauma on substance abuse. According to Bowlby’s theory, trauma significantly impacts the formation of secure attachment bonds and increases the likelihood of developing SUDs and fearful attachments. In the show, Beth displays this pattern of development. Having faced emotional and physical neglect from her biological mother and insecurity and distance from her peers at the orphanage, Beth loses the chance to form a secure bond. Her adoptive father resents her and she grows to develop a fearful attachment with significant others in her lifetime, leading to her using pills and alcohol to cope with being unable to open up. (Potter-Efron, 2006)
According to Weinberg (2001), people who use substances earlier than others are more likely to develop a disorder. Weinberg also identifies family and peer history as a key environmental factor in increasing the risk of developing a SUD. Throughout Beth’s life, she has circumstantially been surrounded by those who have encouraged her to engage in addictive behaviour. After a tranquiliser overdose at the orphanage, Beth is adopted into a local family. Alma, her adoptive mother, suffers from depression and alcohol abuse disorder due to separation from her husband. While accompanying Beth to a chess tournament at age 15, she allows Beth to indulge in drinking with her and enables her alcohol addiction hence. To calm her nerves before and during chess games, her close friend at the orphanage often slipped her extra pills. These encouraging relationships directly influenced her comfort with the harmful behaviours and led to the development of the disorder. The attention to detail in incorporating risk factors into the plot of the show and using them to shape the narrative justifies the portrayal of the disorder and truly raises awareness about the development of substance use.
The show also manages to depict the reality of living as a “high-functioning addict”: a person who uses substances heavily but is categorised by less unemployment, less cognitive dysfunction, greater social functioning and lesser probability of endorsing comorbidities (Witkiewitz, 2018). Beth’s character arc follows this closely, unveiling her potential to not only visualise and win matches but play the politics of the same using her connections and network while heavily relying on substances. The show brings this aspect of addiction to life with her character, something rarely done in mainstream media.
However, there are some aspects of the show that are questionable with respect to their message and influence on the audience. Firstly, the premise of the show hinges on the fact that when Beth takes her pills, she begins to hallucinate chess moves on the ceiling which allow her to practice infinitely complicated moves without their real-world consequences, eventually leading to her prowess. However, this implies elevated, long-term cognitive functioning as a result of overdosing on drugs which is an unjustified claim. A study conducted by Buijnen et. al (2019) on the prevalence of cognitive impairment in patients with SUD found that 30- 80% of patients had some type of cognitive impairment based on the substance used. For instance, Beth primarily overdosed on alcohol and prescription pills, which should impair pre-frontal cortex functions such as planning, frequency and memory, skills integral to succeeding in chess. (Mechner, 2010)
More concerningly, the show glosses over the need for and process of recovery from substance use. The turning point is when Beth overdoses and misses an entire tournament and is encouraged by her friends to appear sober for a match to realise her skills without substances. While addiction recovery can be sparked by a sudden turn of events, the show skips over essential elements of the recovery process such as negotiating withdrawals, referring to language specific to recovery and highlighting the role of social support, and physical and psychological health in healing. (White, 2007)
This begs the larger question of whether any piece of film or media can exist with the purpose of raising awareness about serious, widespread mental illness and succeed. A show can only raise awareness if it is enjoyable and that requires potential tradeoffs between accurate depictions of mental illnesses and high-value fiction with glamour, melodrama and glorification. If so, it makes it almost impossible for a piece of media to exist that can ever do justice to its aim. Perhaps, the yardstick measures the outcomes of this tradeoff, the sacrifice and the strategy. Perhaps, that is the real queen’s gambit.
References
Bruijnen, C., Dijkstra, B., Walvoort, S., Markus, W., VanDerNagel, J., Kessels, R., & DE Jong, C. (2019). Prevalence of cognitive impairment in patients with substance use disorder. Drug and alcohol review, 38(4), 435–442. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12922
Mechner F. (2010). Chess as a Behavioral Model for Cognitive Skill Research: Review of Blindfold Chess by Eliot Hearst and John Knott. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 94(3), 373–386. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2010.94-373
Potter-Efron, R. (2006). Attachment, Trauma and Addiction. Journal of Chemical Dependency Treatment. Journal of Chemical Dependency Treatment, 8(2), 71–87. https://doi:10.1300/j034v08n02_04.
Scott, F., Scott, A., Loges, M., Horberg, W., Aniceto, M. (Executive producers). (2020). The Queen’s Gambit [TV Series]. Netflix.
Speaker, S. (1997). From "Happiness Pills" to "National Nightmare": Changing Cultural
Assessment of Minor Tranquilizers in America, 1955-1980. Oxford University Press, 52, 338-376. https://academic.oup.com/jhmas/article-pdf/9838699/338.pdf
Weinberg, N. Z. (2001). Risk Factors for Adolescent Substance Abuse. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34(4), 343–351. https://doi:10.1177/002221940103400409
Witkiewitz, K; Wilson, A. D.; Pearson, M. R.; Montes, K. S.; Kirouac, M; Roos, C. R.; Hallgren, K. A.; Maisto, S. A. (2018). Profiles of Recovery from Alcohol Use Disorder at Three Years Following Treatment: Can the Definition of Recovery be Extended to Include High Functioning Heavy Drinkers?. University of Washington. https://doi:10.1111/add.14403
White. W. (2007). Addiction recovery: Its definition and conceptual boundaries. Journal of substance abuse treatment, 33(3), 0–241. https://doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2007.04.015.
The opening episode follows a young Beth who exists in a troubled home. Her mother Alice lives with severe mental health disorders and soon after her divorce from Beth’s father, takes her own life, leaving Beth a survivor and orphan. Beth joins the local Methuen Girls orphanage where she discovers the world of chess and substances.
1950s America sustained a heavy culture of tranquillizer dependence and the show explores this theme with delicateness. According to Susan Speaker (1997), America’s dependence began with a minor tranquillizer Miltown (meprobamate) which alleviated anxiety and mood. Soon, benzodiazepines such as Librium and Valium succeeded in the same manner. In the show, the orphanage is seen administering Xanzolam, a fictional drug similar to Librium, to help the children maintain decorum. In the meantime, Beth begins playing chess with the orphanage janitor and excelling in her performance. When she experiences stress in chess or school, she begins to take more pills than required and notices their calming effects.
The show introduces the psychological and environmental risk factors of substance use disorder (SUD). Firstly, the show traces the consequences of early trauma on substance abuse. According to Bowlby’s theory, trauma significantly impacts the formation of secure attachment bonds and increases the likelihood of developing SUDs and fearful attachments. In the show, Beth displays this pattern of development. Having faced emotional and physical neglect from her biological mother and insecurity and distance from her peers at the orphanage, Beth loses the chance to form a secure bond. Her adoptive father resents her and she grows to develop a fearful attachment with significant others in her lifetime, leading to her using pills and alcohol to cope with being unable to open up. (Potter-Efron, 2006)
According to Weinberg (2001), people who use substances earlier than others are more likely to develop a disorder. Weinberg also identifies family and peer history as a key environmental factor in increasing the risk of developing a SUD. Throughout Beth’s life, she has circumstantially been surrounded by those who have encouraged her to engage in addictive behaviour. After a tranquiliser overdose at the orphanage, Beth is adopted into a local family. Alma, her adoptive mother, suffers from depression and alcohol abuse disorder due to separation from her husband. While accompanying Beth to a chess tournament at age 15, she allows Beth to indulge in drinking with her and enables her alcohol addiction hence. To calm her nerves before and during chess games, her close friend at the orphanage often slipped her extra pills. These encouraging relationships directly influenced her comfort with the harmful behaviours and led to the development of the disorder. The attention to detail in incorporating risk factors into the plot of the show and using them to shape the narrative justifies the portrayal of the disorder and truly raises awareness about the development of substance use.
The show also manages to depict the reality of living as a “high-functioning addict”: a person who uses substances heavily but is categorised by less unemployment, less cognitive dysfunction, greater social functioning and lesser probability of endorsing comorbidities (Witkiewitz, 2018). Beth’s character arc follows this closely, unveiling her potential to not only visualise and win matches but play the politics of the same using her connections and network while heavily relying on substances. The show brings this aspect of addiction to life with her character, something rarely done in mainstream media.
However, there are some aspects of the show that are questionable with respect to their message and influence on the audience. Firstly, the premise of the show hinges on the fact that when Beth takes her pills, she begins to hallucinate chess moves on the ceiling which allow her to practice infinitely complicated moves without their real-world consequences, eventually leading to her prowess. However, this implies elevated, long-term cognitive functioning as a result of overdosing on drugs which is an unjustified claim. A study conducted by Buijnen et. al (2019) on the prevalence of cognitive impairment in patients with SUD found that 30- 80% of patients had some type of cognitive impairment based on the substance used. For instance, Beth primarily overdosed on alcohol and prescription pills, which should impair pre-frontal cortex functions such as planning, frequency and memory, skills integral to succeeding in chess. (Mechner, 2010)
More concerningly, the show glosses over the need for and process of recovery from substance use. The turning point is when Beth overdoses and misses an entire tournament and is encouraged by her friends to appear sober for a match to realise her skills without substances. While addiction recovery can be sparked by a sudden turn of events, the show skips over essential elements of the recovery process such as negotiating withdrawals, referring to language specific to recovery and highlighting the role of social support, and physical and psychological health in healing. (White, 2007)
This begs the larger question of whether any piece of film or media can exist with the purpose of raising awareness about serious, widespread mental illness and succeed. A show can only raise awareness if it is enjoyable and that requires potential tradeoffs between accurate depictions of mental illnesses and high-value fiction with glamour, melodrama and glorification. If so, it makes it almost impossible for a piece of media to exist that can ever do justice to its aim. Perhaps, the yardstick measures the outcomes of this tradeoff, the sacrifice and the strategy. Perhaps, that is the real queen’s gambit.
References
Bruijnen, C., Dijkstra, B., Walvoort, S., Markus, W., VanDerNagel, J., Kessels, R., & DE Jong, C. (2019). Prevalence of cognitive impairment in patients with substance use disorder. Drug and alcohol review, 38(4), 435–442. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12922
Mechner F. (2010). Chess as a Behavioral Model for Cognitive Skill Research: Review of Blindfold Chess by Eliot Hearst and John Knott. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 94(3), 373–386. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2010.94-373
Potter-Efron, R. (2006). Attachment, Trauma and Addiction. Journal of Chemical Dependency Treatment. Journal of Chemical Dependency Treatment, 8(2), 71–87. https://doi:10.1300/j034v08n02_04.
Scott, F., Scott, A., Loges, M., Horberg, W., Aniceto, M. (Executive producers). (2020). The Queen’s Gambit [TV Series]. Netflix.
Speaker, S. (1997). From "Happiness Pills" to "National Nightmare": Changing Cultural
Assessment of Minor Tranquilizers in America, 1955-1980. Oxford University Press, 52, 338-376. https://academic.oup.com/jhmas/article-pdf/9838699/338.pdf
Weinberg, N. Z. (2001). Risk Factors for Adolescent Substance Abuse. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34(4), 343–351. https://doi:10.1177/002221940103400409
Witkiewitz, K; Wilson, A. D.; Pearson, M. R.; Montes, K. S.; Kirouac, M; Roos, C. R.; Hallgren, K. A.; Maisto, S. A. (2018). Profiles of Recovery from Alcohol Use Disorder at Three Years Following Treatment: Can the Definition of Recovery be Extended to Include High Functioning Heavy Drinkers?. University of Washington. https://doi:10.1111/add.14403
White. W. (2007). Addiction recovery: Its definition and conceptual boundaries. Journal of substance abuse treatment, 33(3), 0–241. https://doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2007.04.015.
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