Addiction Movie Analysis: Gia
Michaele S. Gray
SCI/100
September 7, 2015
Kimberly Brodie

Addiction Movie Analysis: Gia
Gia is a 1998 biographical HBO film about the life of model Gia Marie Carangi who was (and still is) consider the world’s first supermodel. She was featured on the cover of fashion magazines, including four international editions of Vogue and multiple issues of Cosmopolitan between 1979 and 1982 ("The Life and Death of Gia Carangi", 2009). Gia contracted HIV from her drug usage and died of AIDS-related complications at the age of 26.
Gia Marie Carangi was a Philadelphia native who moved to New York City to become a fashion model and immediately catches the attention of a former model, turned powerful agent, named Wilhelmina Cooper who has opened her own modeling agency. Gia's attitude and beauty helped her rise quickly to the forefront of the modeling industry and she looked up to Wilhelmina as not only her mentor, but as a mother figure. She started off as only using drugs socially, usually when she and her friends were out at Studio 54 (a popular night club in New York City during the 70s). At that time, she was only socially snorting the drugs and was able to function normally, but her persistent loneliness after the death of Wilhelmina drives her to experiment with mood-altering drugs like cocaine.
Gia never learned to accept or cope with the death of her mentor and so her drug habit quickly grew into an addiction. She became addicted to heroin when she left in the middle of a photo shoot looking to score cocaine. Instead, she met a guy who injected her with heroin because that was all he had at the time. In the mist of all this, she meets and fell in love with a female makeup artist named Linda. However, after a while Linda begins to worry about Gia's drug use and gives her an ultimatum; Gia chooses the drugs. Failed attempts at reconciliation with Linda and with her mother, Kathleen, drove Gia to begin abusing heroin more and more on a daily basis.
Her addiction soon began to affect her work; she began having violent temper tantrums, walking out of photo shoots to buy drugs, and falling asleep in front of the camera. She slept with men for money in order to buy heroin and was raped on several occasions. During one of her final location shoots for American Vogue, Gia had red bumps in the crooks of her elbows where she had injected heroin ("The Life and Death of Gia Carangi", 2009). Despite airbrushing, some of the photos, as published in the November 1980 issue, still showed visible needle marks. By now, her career was in a steep decline ("The Life and Death of Gia Carangi", 2009). Modeling offers soon ceased and her fashion industry friends, including Linda, refused to speak to her, fearing their association with her would harm their careers.
In the late 80s, Gia was admitted into a Pennsylvania hospital and treated for bilateral pneumonia. A few days later, she was diagnosed with AIDS. The doctors told her that she most likely contracted the disease from sharing needles during her heroin drug use. Gia Maria Carangi later died of AIDS-related complications on November 18, 1986, at the age of 26.
Although an ultimatum was presented to Gia and she chose the drugs over the love of her life, I would also give her an ultimatum in order to confront her to bring attention to the problem. I would first stage an intervention, gathering all those who love her and want to help her. Then I would present her with the ultimatum.
Addictions can be connected in many ways. For example, a person who smokes marijuana can become addicted to crack cocaine. They may began smoking marijuana and then ‘lace’ it with the crack to create that ultimate high. Once they no longer get the high that they are looking for while mixing the marijuana and cocaine, they then begin to smoke the crack cocaine alone, creating another amazing high. The addiction soon happens because they are chasing the feeling that they received from the first time they smoked crack, not realizing that they will never feel that initial high again, thus creating the addiction.
There are several different treatments that are available for individuals who are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Some of these treatments includes rehab and/or interventions. I believe that these types of treatments can work for any type of addiction if the person with the addiction is willing to undergo treatment. This is the only way that a treatment program will work and continue to do so.

References
The life and death of Gia Carangi. (2009). Retrieved from
http://www.geoclan.com/style/articles/05/TheLifeandDeathofGiaCarangi.html