Honors College Art & Science of Emotions Fall 2017 (1:20 p.m.) Sadness Journal | Page 23

A Pill A Day
By: Gabrielle Bruno
Surely you’ve heard the slogan, “depression hurts, Cymbalta can help.” Many American’s, like
you are the unknown targets of drug advertisements. Polypharmacy has often been associated with the
elderly, but is now is common for patients of all ages. A social commentary on the overprescription of
drugs is depicted in Beejoir’s sculpture, A Pill A Day (Beejoir, 2017). Overusing pharmaceuticals could
lead to one’s inability to experience sadness and other emotions. These emotions allow us to connect with
one another on a deeper level, so continuously suppressing feelings of sadness could further feelings of
isolation and become problematic for society as a whole.
Recall your last trip to the cereal aisle at the grocery store, if you will. The choices for breakfast
are plentiful; colorful boxes of all sizes line the shelves top to bottom. Choices are often marketed to chil-
dren with printed enticements that toys or other prizes are hidden within. Beejoir imagined an inconspic-
uous bowl of sugary cereal, just like those eaten by children every morning. In his sculpture, pieces of
cereal were replaced with colorful prescription pills which appear soaked in milk. He creates an analogy
between the two, showing the resemblance that pills often have to candy or pieces of cereal. An other-
wise unremarkable pale blue bowl of cereal becomes a powerful social commentary on the overuse of
prescription drugs. Beejoir seems to suggest that pills are as common and plentiful as the cereal you eat in
the morning.
In our technology driven world, it's unlikely that kids are reading the back of their boxes of cereal
during their breakfasts, and more likely watching TV or scrolling the feeds of their social media. All the
while, they are subject to the drug commercials now and for the rest of their day either through TV, ra-
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