Surfers vs Big Pharms: Andy Irons - Touched by God

A film that hopefully will rock the pharmaceutical industry to it's foundations played in a special engagement last night across several theaters. Andy Irons: Touched by God is a film about the life and death of 3 time World Surf League, (WSL) Champion Andy Irons. In it we learn of his battle with bipolar disorder and drug addiction. We also learn of the rock star life of being one of only 36 men competing for the WSL Championship title. And as you would expect, the rock-star part of this story was fueled by drugs and alcohol.

In the opening sequence, the term, "touched by God" is described as catching your first perfect wave.

The film initially focuses on Andy's early life. And how surfing in Kauai, (part of the Hawaiian Island Chain), was an escape from the constant turmoil of his parents arguments. And it is during his teenage years when the 2 billion dollar a year surfing industry began to notice him. This resulted in him receiving a $110K a year deal with a major surfing brand when he was just 17 years old. And after winning a few contests, soon Andy, found himself on what was once called the Association of Professional Surfers, (now the WSL).

The film pulls no punches in describing what that life was like for the young men who are on what is commonly known as "The Dream Tour", as the jet-set lifestyle, adulation, and parties that surround the WSL surfers is a dream realized for a young surfer. But within that dream lurks a nightmare of drug and alcohol abuse. And as Andy had not been yet diagnosed as bipolar, the nightmare took hold of him and eventually crushed the life out of him.

Andy Irons celebrates with friends after winning his first WSL title. A native of Kauai, many people felt he won it for all of the Hawaiian Islands.

Knowing that just a few years ago the film Vaxxed, about the dark side of the vaccinations, was axed from the Tribeca Film Festival line up, I was happy to see another torpedo fired at the ship called "Big Pharma" with the release of this film. So, perhaps the strategy used by Teton Gravity Research, (the producers of the film), took a lesson from how Vaxxed was made obscure and decided to circumvent the film fest circuit.

The film has a lot of harsh criticism for not only the opioids but for the laws that allowed them to become legally prescribed in the United States. In one of the interviews they even specifically name Oxycontin as "legal heroin". These are tough words. But, surfers are a tough crowd that cannot be intimidated by main stream media and the corporations that fund them. And in this tragedy, his friends and family have created an awareness about "Big Pharma" that the word needs to hear. Granted, this is not all the film is about. But, the segments that discuss opioids are so profound, it cannot be underestimated how this film could potentially impact the world.

After the films credits closed, there was about 25 more minutes of interviews. One of them surrounded the Andy Irons Foundation. And their mission is to create uplifting programs for young people struggling with mental illness, substance abuse, and learning disabilities among our youth. https://www.andyironsfoundation.org/

Even if you have never been surfing you should see this film. Not only does it educate us about bipolar disorder, but it does a great job of damning one of the most destructive drug epidemics that has ever faced humanity. And, if you, like me, has a relative who died from opiate abuse the high-profile life and death of Andy Irons hopefully will answer some of the questions you had about your own tragedy.

Main stream media by and large has ignored this film so far. But hopefully the stunning photography and surfing of Andy Irons will draw more attention to addiction and bipolar disorder.