Content Warning: Euphoria is rated TV-MA and contains depictions of drug use, sexual intimacy, profanity, violence, and other mature themes that may not be suitable for audiences under 17. 

Euphoria, the popular HBO Max series, is renowned for being an exaggerated, dramatic telling of the high school landscape. However, this televised series has been met with criticism for its frisky portrayal of adolescence. Despite Euphoria being overdramatic for cinematic reasons and viewer pleasure, the show is truly a fair representation of teenage life when taking into consideration the problems it tackles: drug addiction, dysfunctional relationship dynamics, mental health issues, and sexual identity. 

Euphoria: an experience of intense pleasure and happiness. Euphoria captures this euphoric sensation through the misuse of drugs that some teenagers can relate to. 

The protagonist of the series, 17-year-old Rue, is a drug addict who was recently released from rehabilitation, with no plan whatsoever to stay clean. After all, one of the first times the audience meets her, Rue is buying drugs from her dealers, Fez and Ashtray. Rue embodies teenagers that are struggling with drug addiction caused by a crippling sense of trauma that slips people into a spiral to rock bottom. Substance use, put into the forefront by Zendaya’s portrayal of Rue, is common among youth. 

According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, “2.08 million or 8.33% of 12- to 17-year-olds nationwide report using drugs in the last month.” Not only that, but “by the time they’re in 12th grade, 46.6% of teens have tried illicit drugs.” 

Furthermore, nuclear, yet dysfunctional, families are embedded within Euphoria, through characters such as Cassie and Nate.

Cassie, one of Rue’s biggest supporters, has dealt with familial issues throughout her childhood; her parents often fought about their respective marital indiscretions, ultimately divorced, and her father, Gus, was not a role model by any means. After the divorce, Gus disregarded his duty as a father to care for Cassie and stopped showing up to see her. Yet, after Gus’ drunk driving accident, Cassie willingly cared for him as his bedside nurse until he decided to leave her once again. The last time Cassie sees her father is when Gus shows up to her 15th birthday party with his only intent being purging the house of fine china for drug money. Without question, it is clear that this father-daughter dynamic is chaotic and unhealthy, and Cassie is a proper reflection of those with flawed familial relationships. 

Similarly, Nate has far less than the ideal father figure. Nate’s father, Cal, was a popular and athletic teenager who fell in love with his male best friend, Derek. However, Cal was forced to marry Nate’s mother because she was pregnant. Cal verbally denounces same-gender sexual behavior, yet partakes in them himself by sleeping with men and transgender women, and often takes out his frustration on his sons, including Nate. Nate, a product of his father, does not have a good role model in his life and has inherited the same beliefs of internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity as Cal, demonstrating the dangers of dysfunctional family dynamics on teenagers. 

Problematic relationships can also be romantic, as seen by Nate and Maddy in Euphoria. Nate’s innate desperation for total control fostered an abusive relationship with Maddy, a firecracker of a character, who failed to fully recognize the extent of his obsession. Nate and Maddy’s relationship is best characterized as an on-and-off-again relationship. Despite being choked and held at gunpoint by Nate, Maddy truly is in love with Nate because she hopes that he will be everything she wants him to be. Maddy represents teenagers who struggle with damaging and toxic romantic relationships that can take its toll.

It has even been revealed that “rates of physical dating violence for youth have been found to range from 9% to 57%.” 

Through Euphoria, mental health issues are destigmatized and normalized as something that is okay to possess. 

For as long as Rue can remember, she has been beaten down by mental chaos and emotional turmoil that has led her to cope through substance abuse. It has been alluded to that Rue has anxiety, a bipolar disorder, and an obsessive-compulsive disorder. The audience is able to see how Rue is unable to escape her mental illnesses and her thoughts that overrule her willpower to stay clean and be there for her mother and sister. Therefore, Rue provides representation to teenagers battling mental illnesses. 

“Cases of major depression among teens ages sixteen and seventeen rose by an overwhelming 69%…feelings of anxiety and hopeless increased by 71% among people ages seventeen to twenty-five…one out of five girls ages twelve to seventeen had experienced major depression within the last year…between 2008 and 2017, the suicide rate among teens ages eighteen to nineteen increased by 56%,” stated Adolescent Wellness Academy.

Additionally, Euphoria explicitly explores sexuality through the lens of a high school environment. 

None of the characters in the series have defined or labeled their sexuality. For one, Nate and Cal are both seen with men and transgender women, while Jules and Rue are seen in relationships with both men and women. Moreover, Jules is a transgender woman herself. Through these characters, it is easier for society to understand what teenagers endure when navigating their sexuality. 

Students at Arcadia High School even believe that they see themselves and their internal struggles represented within the show. 

Junior Sahanna Rajinikanthan stated, “Euphoria prioritizes mental health and I feel comforted by the notion that stigma against mental illnesses are dissolving.” 

“Even though some of the problems like addiction and dysfunctional families do not apply to me, I know that other people around my age deal with such problems,” said junior Jason Yasuda. “Mental health and figuring out your identity are definitely big ones that are super relevant to high schoolers.”

By stripping back the glitter and shutting off the strobe lights, it is evident that Euphoria represents teenage issues through a dramatized microcosm of high school life.

Photo courtesy of Karl Edwards