For folks who have not seen Euphoria, this article may allude to some spoilers. Although, if you are wondering why you should watch this show, you can skim the headlines to know why it is a must-watch.
In 2019 HBO brought audiences Euphoria starring Zendaya as Rue and Hunter Schafer as Jules. The girls have a central intimate friendship that blurs lines of romance and battle the difficulties of American adolescence together.
Although their relationship is central to the plot, they live their own secrets throughout the series. The biggest issue that Rue deals with is her drug addiction, relapses and struggle to constantly be sober.
Rue and Jules are integral to the plot, but the other members of their high school community have their own secrets and experiences that reflect those of American teenagers. The show makes a statement that to be a teen today, you go through your own struggles and trauma to come out on the other side.
While it sounds sad, there is a beauty to the truth and honesty of the show. Not to mention incredible creative execution and work by the actors. Whether you like to admit it or not, Euphoria is a truthful telling of the American teenager's experience.
The show is airing season 2 soon and has released a special series centered around and written by Hunter Schafer. Overall, the show has reached Emmy acclaim and nomination.
The Struggle To Be Yourself
Rue has been addicted to drugs since she was a kid when took one of her father's painkillers. From that moment, her brain changed. The series opens up with her returning from rehab and emerging into high school life, where she meets the new kid, Jules.
From trying to please her mom and her sister, Rue also struggles to stay true to herself because her struggle with sobriety is a long haul.
Jules on the other hand struggles with having romantic and sexual encounters that incite violence. Hunter Schafer opens up about this in an interview, saying that as she and her character are trans, they have an idea of how a woman is supposed to be treated by men and want to have this experience to validate her femininity.
The audience hopes that Rue and Jules can work together to rebuild intimate encounters that are healthier and without violence, which is the essence of the plot of the show and a representation of teenage relationships.
Teenagers have adopted dating scripts based on what they see in movies or on the internet, and learn from experience to form their own ideas. Even if as a teenager you weren't dealing with the same issues as Rue and Jules, your early dating experiences formed how you think about your current ones, and continue to teach you what you want.
Friendships That Challenge Love
Audiences are eager to see what happens after the season 1 finale. But to backtrack, there is intimate tension in their friendship. Even though Jules continues to see other people, she comes back to Rue and recognizes the special beauty that can only be shared between friends who really love each other, no matter if that love continues to grow or not.
When you were a teenager, your best friends were everything. Being an adolescent is about building a sense of self outside of the home and your friendships shape that. It is the beginning of an era where your friends become your chosen family, this American phenomenon is often represented in TV characters, such as Friends, Girls, Broad City, and Insecure.
Rue and Jules are unique in that their intimacy is rooted in romantic intention, but everyone can relate to the deep platonic intimacy in the best friendship, especially from their teen years.
The Secret Lifes
Rue and Jules aren't the only ones hiding things. Throughout the show, the audience learns about the secret lives. Secret doesn't necessarily imply a hush hush, as much as it means unspoken.
Teenagers are so intimate in their friendships, yet also so superficial about what they don't want to share. From uncomfortable sexual encounters, issues with their parents and home life, and actual secret online personas, Euphoria takes the unspoken life of the American teenager to the screen.
In adolescence, an aspect of these unspoken issues goes back to a sense of self, and who you are trying to create outside of the home, versus the real you. They can both exist, and the want to be different is a shared life experience that takes more than adolescent years to figure out. The characters in Euphoria represent the beginning of figuring out who you are, which lives on after high school and is shaped by those around you.
