Drugs are bad.

Even when they're prescribed by your doctor.

I started watching Painkiller, the Netflix documentary on the Sackler family. In case you forgot, the Sackler family were the owners of Purdue Pharma and the creators of the Oxycontin epidemic that ravaged so much of the nation for decades and made the Sackler family exceedingly wealthy.

Matthew Broderick in Painkiller

The story of this family is another example of success gone overboard. The number of people driven by greed and the thirst for power is hard to reconcile but it’s capitalism at work, so it must be good right?

Matthew Broderick is so adept in his portrayal of Richard Sackler, so I will continue, even though it is hard to watch and ugly to think about. Uzo Aduba is also terrific in her role as one of the investigators on the case for years putting the pieces together.

Photo of Nan Goldin in All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

I say this with some familiarity because a few months ago I watched the excellent documentary, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed on famed photographer Nan Goldin. I was not so familiar with her work but had heard about her over the years as she was one of the original NY artists that managed to continue her career over decades. The documentary covers her life story which starts out marked with tragedy but ends in triumph.

I had read that she too became addicted to opioids and had a hard time getting through it. This seemed ironic to me as Nan Goldin survived NY in the ‘70s when people were overdosing on heroin and also survived the ‘80’s and watched her closest friends and loved ones die in the early years of the AIDS crisis.

The apotheosis of Nan’s struggle in overcoming opioids was not just getting clean and working again. As a famous artist, her works were shown in all the world’s top museums and galleries. She refocused her life and used the lessons of the AIDS crisis and mobilization during the ACT-UP years and turned her eye onto the Sackler family directly as they profited from the Oxycontin and opioid crisis that stole years from her life and much more from so many others.

The documentary showed the tireless work she and her team did, protesting museums around the world that bore the Sackler name because in addition to being greedy, the Sacklers were also intent on putting their name on these universities, museums, and other institutions to cement their place in history.

That is until, Nan Goldin mobilized protests at these same buildings around the globe. Year after year, they would protest and raise awareness until one by one, the places took down the Sackler name from their buildings.

And this was the beginning of the end for the Sacklers. Now everyone sees the Sackler family as directly responsible for the opioid crisis. The many lawsuits filed against them and Purdue Pharma also resulted in one of the largest (~6B) and most controversial financial settlements in history.

Talk about a David and Goliath story! The documentary, All The Beauty and Bloodshed is a gritty and inspiring look at the life of an artist and activist that changed the world in more ways than one. It will stay with me.

Nan Goldin today. One not to be reckoned with.