Euphoria’s Self-Awareness May Be A Beacon For HBO
The ratings for HBO’s new series Euphoria have been stagnant, but that doesn’t mean all hope is lost for the media giant.
HBO’s Euphoria is conscious of the world it is speaking to. One of the pilot’s first images is its newborn protagonist, Rue, peering up at a TV screen that is broadcasting then-President George Bush standing over the ashes of 9/11. It’s meant to be a burdening thought for the parents of Generation Z watching at home. The scene sets the tone for the series and promulgates the show’s concerted effort to depict the 21st century through the eyes of the “swipe-right” generation.
Euphoria’s portrayal of Gen Z is more like a sketch than a Monet but that doesn’t stop it from having real world significance. From online pornography to rampant drug abuse to mental illness, the HBO series brings to life the deepest, darkest fears that parents of teenagers have. The show allows its entire audience to experience the eeriness of raising children in a hyper-digitized society. The plot feels like a typical teen drama with beautiful attention to detail and character development. But, ultimately, Euphoria’s main purpose is to highlight the dangers today’s adolescents could face without being caught up in the nitty-gritties of realism.
In a century bombarded with a medley of mass bloodshed, social network platforms, and political instability, the series forces us to stop and reflect on how American society has evolved over the past two decades and the effect that change could subconsciously be having upon ourselves. Euphoria’s trademark monologues, for example, fills the audience in on the childhood history of each of the show’s lead characters. They hammer home the point that we are all, to a degree, prisoners of our own environment and shaped by our ungovernable relationships.
For better or worse, Euphoria thinks our current adolescent incubator has to change. The series depicts that our privacy, in essence, has disintegrated. Social pressures — whether that be from parents, friends, or social media — have become onerous. The feelings of vulnerability and inadequateness have skyrocketed. In turn, these problems are fueling the epidemics of mental illness and addiction for teenagers in our country.
It’s a bleak picture but also more or less aligned with reality. According to a 2018 report, Gen Z is the most likely age demographic to report poor mental health. They are also polling significantly above the adult average when it comes to common stressors (e.g. work, health, money). In addition, 91 percent of 18 to 21 year olds have reported monthly physical and emotional symptoms due to stress.
With that glimmer of information in mind, it’s easy to see why HBO would target these issues in a television series. Gen Z in particular is an age group withering away from its strain, and Euphoria is trying to create a productive dialogue around the problem.
Though the series’ ratings have been stagnant since its premiere, capturing this era’s collective feeling of anxiety and weakness could be a potential gold mine for HBO. The media conglomerate has experimented with everything from a revealing miniseries about a Russian nuclear disaster (Chernobyl) to a mystifying detective drama that felt stretched to its third season (True Detective), but the Time Warner subsidiary may have found a sliver of identity in its post-GoT era from Euphoria.
At a time where the landscape of streaming services is unsettled, HBO needs to have strong distinguishing factors if it hopes to gain ground on Netflix. The media company could not only champion passionate storytelling but also display the bravado necessary to depict pressing issues other platforms shy away from. It could ultimately double down on becoming the Vice of entertainment.
The best inspiration HBO could hope to gleam may come from Euphoria itself. The name says it all: euphoria. A euphoric state is chemical and fleeting — unable to be secured for a long period of time. But if HBO could capture and encapsulate this generation’s collective feeling in their content, the company could set itself up for succession at the turn of the decade.
Karim Noorani is a Senior Creative at UNPLUGG’D , an entertainment junkie, and an avid NBA fan. You can follow him on Twitter here.
