Theme Queen is Her Campus Brighton’s latest new column written by the editor-in-chief, Neave Glennon. Each article will explore the themes of different pieces of literature and cinema, as well as weekly reviews on upcoming titles/releases.
DISCLAIMER: This article features heavy spoilers for Euphoria seasons one and two. If you haven’t watched them both entirely, please refrain from reading ahead. You have been warned. Additionally, all opinions in this article are 100% my own and do not reflect Her Campus as a whole.
Last Sunday saw the finale of Euphoria season two, leaving many of us struggling with how we are going to spend our days without the lingering excitement for a new episode each week. However, whilst this season was undoubtedly more morbid and mature than its predecessor, there were certainly a lot of moments that left a sour taste in my mouth. Most notably, the complete dismantling of Cassie Howard.
Whilst this week’s article was supposed to serve as a sister article to last week’s less opinionated piece (now releasing this Thursday) – when I received this recommendation, it was something that I wanted to discuss right away. The first piece of information we get regarding Cassie’s character in season one of Euphoria is that she’s a ‘slut’. Her sex tape has previously been leaked, everyone has seen it, and according to the villainous Nate Jacobs, “she’s a whore: fact”. In fact, any chance to humanise her by her then-boyfriend, McKay, is entirely rebutted by an onslaught of more slut-shaming. We see Cassie go through a battle with herself and her self-image throughout the first season. Cassie is introduced as someone who wants to be valued by those around her, who later seeks it elsewhere when her own boyfriend disregards her. It’s through this emotional and physical escapism that we see one of the most brutal monologues the show has ever delivered; Daniel at the Halloween party. In this scene, we have to witness Daniel (who was pursuing Cassie) rip into how ‘boring’ Cassie is and that guys only want to have sex with her while she sits there crying at his words. The reason for this behaviour? She rejected him.
As a woman, a man getting angry after refusing his sexual advances is all too familiar. It was one of those scenes that made me grimace whilst I watched, and I remember wanting to reach through the screen and punch Daniel in the face. However, the weight of his comments hits even harder when we are given Cassie’s backstory in the next episode. First, we see her struggles with a drug-addicted, neglectful father; an alcoholic mother; an array of men who have taken advantage of her and even a suicide attempt. Then, after we learn of her pain, we discover that she is pregnant. At the end of the first season, we witness Cassie navigate this challenging situation, which ultimately ends in her getting an abortion – a heart-wrenching scene that actress Syndey Sweeney portrays immaculately. In the final episode, we see Cassie reflect on her love for ice-skating during her procedure, as well as declare her excitement for finally not being in love – ultimately insinuating that next season, we would see her fall in love with herself.
“rATHER THAN SEEING CASSIE OVERCOME HER TRAUMA, WE HAD TO WITNESS HER FALL VICTIM TO IT“
When more promotional material started releasing for season two, I remember being excited to see what direction they would take Cassie’s character. Then the leaks happened. Before the show had even aired, almost everyone found out that Cassie would get a new plotline involving a romance between her and the vile Nate Jacobs. Not only was this a complete insult to her previous development, but it also didn’t quite make sense. Ultimately, it appeared as though it was just there for shock value.
As the season progressed, we had to witness Cassie embarrassingly throw herself and her close friendships under the bus for the approval of the show’s main villain. A man who had not only abused her best friend but also had countless times slut-shamed her and treated her rather brutishly. It reached a point where even checking social media after each episode became quite difficult. Platforms such as Tik Tok and Twitter became fuelled with misogynistic takes on her character’s new direction. Sam Levinson went from having every man in the show branding her a whore, to millions of people worldwide shouting it at the TV when she appeared on the screen each week. It reached a point where girls who still supported Cassie were being labelled “the problem” online, and individuals even romanticised Maddy’s abusive relationship with Nate, branding Cassie as “lesser” or “uglier”. Eventually, this online abuse had real-life consequences. Cassie’s actress Sydney Sweeney took to Instagram live in tears over the newfound comments about her being ‘ugly’.
It reached a point where even I felt shame for ever liking Cassie as a character. Season one introduced so many relevant topics for her character that women all across the globe could find relatable. The idea of being sexualised by everyone around you and having to reclaim your power. The reality of abortion and the trauma that remains. These are all important topics that were never addressed again. Instead, rather than seeing Cassie overcome her trauma, we had to witness her fall victim to it. I am extremely confident that more women would have found the development of her previous story more relatable than the whole “fucking your best friend’s ex” one. Yet, Sam Levinson decided to turn her into a maniacal, unhinged villain instead.
“Arguing that the storyline was meant for jules just makes sam levinson look more repulsive”
In reality, if we took a step back and examined Cassie’s development more closely, the biggest takeaway is the fact that men simply cannot write women. At least, not without their patriarchal ideals getting in the way. Sydney Sweeney is a woman with immense sex appeal, and Levinson knows it. However, rather than rewriting the idea that we have of big-chested, gorgeous blonde women, he instead wholly conformed to it. From wanting many of Cassies scenes to feature a topless Sweeney (and for what, lol) and having people berate her on-and-off screen, it makes you wonder if he has a humiliation kink.
Despite this, there have been many arguments presented in Sam’s defence. Some people believe that Cassie’s behaviour this season is a product of her abortion, which, to me, is possibly one of the most insulting takes in existence. Whilst abortion can affect women in various ways, is showing a woman sabotage her entire life through promiscuity, as a result, the best way to handle it? Set in a country where protesters stand outside Planned Parenthood calling women sluts and, in some cases, threatening their livelihood – it makes me wonder what on earth Sam Levinson was thinking. If anything, the approach to Cassie’s character this season only adds more to the stigma on how people view women who get abortions. Levinson had the opportunity to handle this with more integrity and power than he did. For example, shows such as Sex Education have dealt with this topic previously with a lot more grace and delicacy. We see Maeve, a character who, like Cassie herself, has also faced an absurd amount of slut-shaming, go through the exact same thing. It would have been far more honourable for them to have approached this topic with a lot more sensitivity and respect. They could have shown Cassie deal with what she went through and how it has helped grow her character rather than restrain her.
Finally, some have even stated that Cassie’s story was meant for Jules and that personal issues between Jules and Nate’s actors prevented this. However, I think arguing that the storyline was meant for Jules just makes Sam Levinson look more repulsive. Like, genuinely. How the f*ck does pointing that out, make what actually happened make any more sense? Jules fell victim to Nate’s manipulative tendencies in possibly the worst way ever, completely toying with her emotional and mental state. All of this resulted from him not being able to face his sexuality and inability to control his own emotional impulses. So, why would having Jules form a romance with him have made any sense in the first place? In fact, how was any of what happened actually relevant to the plot or character development, other than the sake of sensationalism?
“Cassie deserved better”
Season two of Euphoria did one thing well: the handling of Rue’s storyline with addiction, which even then had a few plot holes in it (Laurie), which hopefully get filled in season three. Other than that, we saw many things sacrificed to a caprice. Whether that be Cassie, the complete neglect of Kat and Jules or the unlawful lack of screentime for Fexie, there was a lot that could have been done better. I believe that Nate could have had an interesting character development this season without throwing Cassie in the mix. His complex issues with his dad and toxic masculinity deserved far more screen time than received and would have provided the same outcome.
Additionally, Cassie deserved better, and as an audience, we deserved to see her do better. I would have loved to have seen Cassie embark on her own adventure into self-love and reclaiming back her power. I would have loved to have seen her return to her love for ice-skating and doing things for her own pleasure rather than relying on a man. It saddens me that we didn’t get to see these things and rather see her succumb to accepting her role as a villain. Women deserve to watch characters break free from sexualisation, overcome trauma and thrive. We deserve to be able to relate to a flawed woman on the screen and not have to then question whether or not we’re good people ourselves when that character takes a complete U-Turn. Instead, Sam Levinson took away an auspicious, empowering character and made her nothing but a desperate, hot mess. If this season has shown us anything, let it be the fact that Sam Levinson needs women in the writer’s room.
