#i would think if the message was that he was like an abusive sexist cheater he would be flirting back

[natjennie]

watching jacob and julia play the silent hill 2 remake and julia is.. very insistently demonstrating a specific interpretation of the symbols and themes and really like. spoiling the game kind of. in a way that I sort of... don't agree with? like I'm interpreting it way differently and I can't tell if I'm stupid or maybe she's being really aggressive and negative without any solid proof.

[constantlyirksome]

Zendaya is the diamond in a Rough Euphoria Premiere. (1x01 Review.)

I want to preface this post first by saying that as a cis male I’m not able to speak for the experiences of women or trans people, or assault victims because we don’t share the same experiences. I can’t truly understand their struggles; all I can do is speak for the show’s other components. If I step out of line please feel free to send a message through.

Second, Euphoria is R rated and incredibly explicit, so if you have certain triggers surrounding some of the themes of the show, maybe don’t watch, though the show does a better job than most when it comes to warning it’s audience what’s going down.

The first thing you notice about Euphoria is that it’s beautiful. The camerawork and lighting set the show apart from a lot of other teen dramas, perfectly matching the tone of the show's story. Every time the main character partakes in a drug the visuals match. Rue takes hallucinogens and the room literally spins on its axis, until she’s on the roof. When she takes something to mellow out her anxiety everything goes dark, the music slow like molasses and the lighting moves across her face, matching Zendaya's face her emotions spin. The music is very cool, which probably has something to with the fact that Drake is one of the producers. Big names like Beyoncé, Migos, Megan Thee Stallion and Asap Ferg are joined by more independent acts like Yung Baby Tate and Lil Dude.  Sprinkled in are some more old school tracks by Andy Williams. The mix feels very cool and genuine and stops the dark elements of the show taking over too much. The show is incredibly fun to watch from a production standpoint.

The shows two leads Rue (Zendaya Coleman,” and Jules (Hunter Schafer) are the guiding lights in a cast of liars, cheaters, abusers, and jerks. Rue is fresh out of rehab after having an OD during the summer and comes back into town looking to score more drugs immediately. We learn she uses to cope with a plethora of mental illnesses that she’s had to deal with since she was little. Her panic attacks are so severe she loses consciousness and feels like she can’t breathe. Her first relief comes the first time she uses drugs. She sometimes goes on long, theatrical rants that can seem a bit corny, like when she gives a detailed description of her birth. (This is coupled with some pretty graphic imagery, and it’s the first scene of the show so it gets your attention I guess.) But her story is interesting and there’s underlying compassion that comes through, with her sister, with a classmate having a rough time, and with Jules. Zendaya is a powerhouse, while this probably being the first adult program she’s been in she really steps it up. Her subtlety when playing drunk or stoned stops the show feeling goofy and actually makes what she’s going through pretty sad. Except for the montage of drunken bike riding accidents where she keeps riding into parked cars. Poetic cinema. Jules is still a little bit of an enigma, only appearing in her scene with the older guy, and at the party. Both times she’s profiled for being a trans woman, once threateningly and once sexually. But there’s a real fire there that’s intriguing. When she maims herself to fend off an aggressive jock it’s genuinely shocking and possibly gratuitous. It would be good to see how she’s gotten to where she is without relying solely on abuse tropes, which seems to be where her story is geared. The final scenes with Rue and Jules are incredibly sweet and make all the grime and darkness worth it.

You might wonder why people would want to review, or even watch shows that are so graphic and dark, or that the shows allure lies only in shock value. But Euphoria is more than just dick pics and teens taking drugs, everything is done for a reason, whether it adds to the story, or clues the audience in on the shows key themes. I have NEVER been a fan of sexual assault as a narrative device; it’s lazy and harmful. The first episode of Euphoria doesn’t have any explicit rape scenes, though the threat of it feels imminent, and there are a few hard to watch moments where the men take it a bit too far.

I think that’s the point, none of the shows men are painted in a particularly favorable light, the episode, and the whole series probably, wants to show of the worst types of misogyny that teen girls in high school face. There are jocks who bond over stolen nudes and sex tapes of their classmates, guys peer pressured into treating women poorly, and one very creepy older man with a major creep factor. It’s basically a PSA warning against some of the most common traits of entitled, sexist dudes. Head Jock, Nate, spends the episode walking around shirtless, shouting, cat calling and pushing people around like he’s top shit. When his ex, Maddy has sex in Nate’s pool in front of their classmates (not the classiest move, obviously,) he flies into a fit of rage. He shouts people out of his kitchen and smashes stuff until he comes face to face with Jules, who pulls out a knife and sikes him out until he retreats. Not all women have knives, obviously when men harass them, and men shouldn’t have to be held off by a knife to stop from playing up, but it was satisfying watching Nate get owned anyway. His influence over McKay, whom he peer pressures into treating a girl horribly in bed, will hopefully fade.

The other man Jules encounters, Cal, is a married man played by Eric Dane (McSteamy from Grey’s Anatomy.) He meets Jules in a seedy motel after she cruises him online, leading to one of the more uncomfortable scenes this episode that really had no purpose other than to let on how creepy he is and that he’s Nate’s dad.

The girls in the show just do whatever they can to fit in and get by in high school unfazed. Rue uses substances, Jules uses isolation and rough exterior, and the popular girls use sex. People with cameras and classmates shaming them take their desire to explore at a young age at every turn. Jules’ friend Kat has sex for the first time after the other girls make her feel weird for not having done it.  Some turn the tables, using sexuality and influence to embarrass or shame the people giving them shit.

The whole premier’s focus was on survival in high school, in a time of social media and substances that make it almost impossible. Peer pressure, drugs, nudes and mental illness are all key motivators but it’s how each kid chooses to respond and stand out that makes the show special. Hopefully, we move from just surviving to actually thriving. We get a hint of this when Rue and Jules finally meet, and are actually kind to each other, hinting at a possibly healing, fun pairing. Either way, the show isn’t likely to slow down and has a lot of potential.