Zendaya (pictured above) stars in the popular HBO series “Euphoria.” This series focuses on heavy subjects such as drug habits and mental disorders (courtesy of El Grillo Amarillo).
The HBO show “Euphoria” premiered earlier this summer on June 16, bringing the adolescent characters’ darkest moments to light by following the artistic vision of producer and popular musical artist Drake. The show’s newfound popularity has brought about major controversy with its gritty portrayal of American youth.
The show takes place in middle-class California as it tells the story of director Sam Levinson’s father, Barry. Rue—portrayed by Zendaya—is this modern teenage odyssey’s hero who experiments with sex, drugs and violence. Viewers watch as 17-year-old Rue leaves rehab and becomes encumbered with wallowing sorrows and hardships after a close call with death.
Rue begins the series by describing her final days at rehab and how she has been experiencing an aching, numb feeling. We are told that Rue desires to keep doing drugs in order to reach the state of mind where she no longer hears the sound of static in her ears.
Viewers learn that Rue has grown up with disorders like OCD and ADHD and she explains that these disorders make her feel like everyone around her is moving and speaking too quickly for her to understand. People’s words morph into sounds equivalent to white noise and Rue feels that the only way to make the sound stop is with drugs.
The series goes on to follow Rue’s quest to regain feeling through drugs. While still a high school student with high school problems, she additionally struggles with addiction and severe depression.
Aside from Rue, the show goes on tangents to follow other characters as they fight their own battles. “Euphoria” depicts a town where no one has the perfect life, although they each put up a façade to hide their issues. From the stereotypical jock who experiences extreme fits of rage to the quiet girl with crippling self-esteem issues, each character works hard to hide a part of themselves.
“Euphoria” combines all of its themes through its cinematography as it explores different types of music and lighting to depict very emotional scenes. For example, dramatic lighting with different colors highlights each character’s moments of vulnerability.
The visual contrast between dark and light illustrates a character’s reality versus their façade; dark, dramatic light is used to clarify that a character’s secret self is being revealed to the audience. On the other hand, soft, white lighting illuminates a character when they are forced back into their everyday social disguise.
Amongst all these insecurities, plot twists arise to throw each character into a spiral. Each twist demonstrates how easily our decisions and minds are influenced by our upbringing and environment, whether this is depicted through first love or first existential crisis.
Although “Euphoria” may seem to some to be glorifying teenage sex and drug use, the show uses these taboo problems to prove to the general public the painful reality of some struggling adolescents. “Euphoria” also provides a platform where people can feel as if others understand the difficulty of mental illness and the struggles of fitting in without following the masses.