Eyes glued to my screen, I finished season one of “Euphoria” in a day. Since then, I’ve anticipated season two, and every new episode has kept me hooked so far. This show and its cast has had a major influence on trending aesthetics and always seems to remain relevant throughout major platforms. The actors in this show give such powerful performances that really emphasize the emotions of a particular character in their scenes. This shows extreme depictions of the life of teens and their experience with drugs, sex and violence is addictive to keep up with.
Starting with the cast, stepping away from her Disney roles, fans watching Zendaya adapt to her newest role seem to admit that it has been a huge change. As her character (Rue) is a drug addict, seeing a new side to the actor has been really impressive. Her ability to really transform into this person who is volatile and completely ruthless when her fans are much more used to an innocent version has really earned my respect in her skills as an actor. Having seen other characters in “Euphoria” in recent pop culture, such as Alexa Demie (Maddy), Jacob Elordi (Nate) and Hunter Schafer (Jules), I have to acknowledge their skills in really embracing their new darker characters. Though playing their roles too well can drum up some negative emotions from fans, seeing these actors step out of their comfort zone has been entertaining.
Not only do the actors showcase their range of skills in new ways, but the characters they are playing are dynamic and gripping. Rue, as aforementioned, is a struggling drug addict impacting everyone else around her. The teenage issues portrayed by other leading characters juxtaposed with Rue’s life and death situation. Her love interests, friends and family are thrown away at the expense of addiction. This serious issue is presented in a digestible and effective way. If “Euphoria” were to bombard the audience with disturbing scenes of relapse and withdrawal endlessly, no one would watch it.
“Euphoria” is often criticized for its trivialization of drug addiction, but the target audience is a young demographic who can handle the topic when it is presented this way.
There seems to be little that “Euphoria” hasn’t influenced over social media. There are major trends that seem to pop out after each new episode. Fashion, TikTok and Twitter seem to be overrun by the idea of what the “Euphoria aesthetic” is. Dressing in crazy outfits, bedazzling makeup looks or creating hilarious memes of scenes has been popular for fans to participate in. My friends and I follow the trend of dissecting the meaning behind every episode, from the outfits and makeup looks to searching for the possible meanings it could have. These trends emphasize the impact “Euphoria” has on it’s viewers, keeping them enticed to keep watching.
Not only does “Euphoria” appeal to the youth today, it’s also an intense, raw piece of art. It’s something that I keep close to my heart and every episode challenges my thinking about the world around me.