Last night we saw Part 2 of the Ben Cousins saga. The honest, eye-opening and emotional documentary which took us on a journey through the career of the AFL star and his drug addiction. And call me old fashioned, but I was a little disappointed.

I’ve got to say I had high hopes for this documentary. I was hoping we’d see a mature Cousins having overcome his addiction and had a great year with Richmond footy club, sending a real message to the public and the kids who look up to him. Really giving a firm statement of how drugs will ruin lives, and a firm apology for what he’s done.

And while there were elements of this, I don’t think it went far enough. As Jason Morrison said on Sunrise this morning, it wasn’t a “tell all” it was a “tell some”.

We’ve had a huge response on the Sunrise soapbox about this. It’s split between the Cousins fans, the footy fans, and everyone else. Some people say it was great, eye-opening and honest, while others say it didn’t get to the point, was a too self-obsessed and almost glorifying the drug use.

One lady commented about how it showed Cousins overcoming drug addiction, yes. But it wasn’t realistic. His was the Hollywood version, with fancy US rehab clinics and endless money to deal with it. The real story for most drug addicts is a lot shadier and usually includes homelessness, poverty, violence and sexual abuse.

It was definitely educational, and a great thing for parents to see. It really showed how easy it is for someone to slip into a downward spiral of drugs and the destructive effects it can have. Cousins was a superstar. A Brownlow medalist. But the playboy lifestyle and easy access to drugs saw him lose his spot at the top. And more importantly to him, it brought down his family.

The problem is, I think it would have sent a different message to the kids watching it. From the start Cousins tells us that drugs were a reward for all the hard work he put into his footy. He kept stressing that they were only ‘recreational drugs’. Well I don’t buy that. How can it be recreational? Fishing is recreational. Playing twister is recreational. Taking drugs is not.

This documentary was promoted as being a crusade against drugs, a revolutionary things for families to watch and learn. But the message on drugs didn’t hit the mark. At the start he looks down the barrel of the camera and says “The message is clear: drugs ruin lives”. But the whole way through Cousins focused on his family, on how he regrets the pain he put his family through and how it destroyed their lives. Obviously it shows how his own life fell apart and the pain he went through of trying to overcome his addiction. But I got the feeling the painful part was more on how the world reacted to him. What upset him most was the media and the AFL putting him through hell. And how his family suffered.

And then he comes out on top. We see him signing with the Tigers, running out on the pitch to uplifting music and excited fans. It becomes a fairytale story. Cousins, who half an hour earlier was at rock bottom, crying and taking drug tests and putting his family through hell, is now attracting record crowds for Richmond. Yes a beautiful and inspirational story. But not the finish you expect for a documentary that crusading against drug use.

There have been a lot of mixed responses to the Cousins’ doco. It’s a very subjective film, and obviously affects everyone in different ways. Call me a dinosaur, but I took it as a bit too self-indulgent. I’m not saying it glorifies drugs or the playboy lifestyle, but it kind of glorifies the fight to overcome adversity and come out a hero. I’m not surprised when I hear of kids saying it’s kind of like a challenge, to go through hell and take so many drugs but still be a superstar footy player.

I certainly hope I’m wrong here. I hope the happy ending has emphasised the power of being drug-free and advocates against the sport-star, party boy lifestyle as something a young footy player needs to go through. I hope the hundreds of thousands of kids around the country got out of it what I failed to see: real remorse. Not for his family, or for his footy career, but remorse for the actual issue at hand.

That’s my take on the doco. What did you get out of it? Do you disagree, and think it was a good way of promoting a life away from drugs?