Euphoria

You may or may not have heard about it, but Euphoria has transformed into one of the most-watched TV shows –It’s the second most-watched tv show after Game of Thrones, not bad, right? Keep reading to find out what Euphoria is about and why I definitely recommend it.

By Pat Aguilar – @pataguilar_

But what is the big deal about it? Some might say it’s just another teenage TV show about the hardship of being a teenager. But I believe this goes beyond that. Yes, you’ll see all the topics you’d expect: sex, drugs, friends, abuse, identity crisis and love. But it’s the way it’s made that makes all the difference. The performances and the audacious style used to present all these controversial topics have made Euphoria a must-watch tv drama series.

Even though it’s adapted from an Israeli miniseries, the producer Sam Levinson wrote it based on his own experience as a teenager. In an interview, Euphoria was described as “Kids meet Trainspotting” (Kids is a 1995 film that relates the lives of 4 teenagers and their relationship with substances abuse and sex through the course of one day, and Trainspotting it’s a movie from 1996 that talks about a group of a heroin addict and their problems.)

Levinson wanted to reflect on his and most teenagers’ problems: anxiety, depression, and drug abuse. Because in different conversations, he realizes that is what many people have in common these days. The show has been praised for the photography, plot, and performances from the cast (especially Zendaya and Hunter Schafer), but not everything is rainbows and sunflowers. The TV show has also been controversial for its nudity and sexual content due to the teenage setting.

Explicit and real are two words that came to my mind as I watched the series. Zendaya’s performance as Rue (the main character and narrator of the series) has been acclaimed by the audience and colleagues, receiving a prime-time Emmy award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series.

Rue is a relapsed drug addict who is coming back home after a period in rehab after an overdose. While everyone is talking about her and what happened, she finds comfort in the new girl in the school Jules (Hunter Schafer), who is going through her gender transition and secret new love. We also meet Kat (Barbie Fernandez) a plus-size teenager fighting for body positivity while she decides to explore her sexuality differently. Fez (Angus Cloud), a drug dealer and close friend with Rue, starts developing a close friendship with Lexi (Maude Apatow), who has been Rue’s best friend since childhood, struggling with being the shadow of her sister Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and feeling like an outsider and observer of her own life.

We see how their lives are all interrelated in one way or another, but what they all have in common is that they want to find their place in this world. Who doesn’t?

We also met Nat (Jacob Elordi), a high school athlete with anger problems who tries to cover his sexual insecurities; his on-and-off girlfriend Maddy (Alexa Demie) and best friend Cassie, who is trying to move on from her sexual past.

We see how their lives are all interrelated in one way or another, but what they all have in common is that they want to find their place in this world. Who doesn’t?

I love how the TV show puts these topics in a more direct and stronger (why not to say it) form, so we can start talking about them from a young age. Because let’s face it, when you are young, the highs of life are extremely high, but the lows feel like the end of the world, and here is where we need to step in. If we have a support network since we are young, we can develop a sense of belonging and confidence to talk about our problems with someone else.

There are intense scenes, yes –I’m not going to deny that. Some that I even had to look away from. For example, a particular scene about rape, as part of “a traditional initiation ritual for a freshman in a fraternity house in University”. It reminded me of a similar scene from “13 Reasons Why”. For a moment, you think, “it’s just a TV show”, but these things happen all the time, sadly. And the sad part of all of this is that people still believe in “tradition”, as in that makes it normal.

With two seasons on air and a third one coming up, Euphoria does this to make you see through different eyes what teenage years can be. We always thought that the prom king and queen were the happiest people in the world, and we wanted to be like them… what happens when we realize that it is not like that? Do they have problems like anyone else? That the troubled kid that everyone rejects and makes fun of him/her is just a kid that doesn’t know how to ask for help?

This TV show is an invitation to remove our judgment for a second and realize that there are people different from us having similar problems. Because a lot of people can relate to this TV show in many ways.

Watch it and let me know what you think. Let’s open a conversation about this to help others. Let’s listen and understand what is behind all of this.