HBO Max’s hit show “Euphoria” follows the lives of high school students all going through their own problems. This show is very explicit and often shows full nudity scenes along with scenes of people doing drugs. Due to this reason, many viewers see this show as completely unrealistic. I mean, sure, doing drugs in the middle of a school highway is pretty obscure.
However, “Euphoria” shows different stories that are actually more realistic than you may think. This show highlights some common problems a lot of teenagers face in their high school years.
Let’s start off with Rue, played by Zendaya, who’s a recovering drug addict after attending rehab. Rue’s constantly struggling with her sobriety and in the start of season two, we see her relapsing once again. Not only does Rue suffer from a drug addiction, but she also suffers from bipolar disorder, anxiety and OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Most of these disorders started when she was a child but started to get more severe, like her drug problem, when her father passed away.
The life of a struggling teenage drug addict seems like something we don’t normally see in typical high schools. However, this happens a lot more than we notice. Drug use in teenagers is a lot more common than you may think. By the time a teenager reaches 12th grade, 46.6% of them have used illicit drugs, and 4,777 American teenagers die from an overdose each year. Rue’s life isn’t as abnormal or different as it may seem. There are tons of high school students that are suffering with the same problem, and “Euphoria” brings them to light.
Rue’s not the only person with some problems in “Euphoria.”
Nate Jacobs, played by Jacob Elordi, also has some serious issues. If you’ve never watched the show, here’s a quick little run down on Nate. He’s the quarterback of the football team, popular, but has some severe anger, mental health and family issues. Due to all of this, Nate’s constantly seen getting angry at someone and reacting to that anger. One key moment in season one was the physical altercation that happened between Nate and Maddy.
Nate and Maddy’s relationship is portrayed as extremely toxic in the show, and they are constantly on and off. This reached a new level when Maddy, played by Alexa Demie, was bruised all over her neck from a fight she had with Nate. Toxic and abusive relationships are usually seen a lot in more mature couples. However, high school students have their fair share of these relationships. 33% of adolescents in America are victim to sexual, physical, verbal or emotional dating abuse, but most of them don’t speak about their experiences until they’re older. From the point of view of someone who’s only ever had healthy relationships, Maddy and Nate seem pretty unrealistic and like a couple that you would never see in high school. But to someone who has seen the signs of abusive relationships before or has been in one, their relationship isn’t as strange as you may think.
Of course, we can’t forget to mention Kat and Cassie. Both of these characters are beautiful girls who are obviously struggling to find themselves and be happy at the same time. In Kat’s case, played by Barbie Ferreira, we see her filming herself for explicit online sites and live streaming with viewers from around the world. She was pretty popular on these sites and received a lot of attention, but it seemed like she was doing this all for the wrong reasons.
In the most recent episode of season 2, we see Kat struggling with the way she looks, the reason being she hates herself and her appearance. This is very common in teenagers and adults. Most people have a moment where they don’t like the way they look or feel like they don’t look good enough for a certain event or person. Kat is seen as very confident on the outside, but when you look deep down, she’s very insecure and struggling with being confident on the inside.
Cassie, played by Sydney Sweeney, on the other hand, doesn’t have the same exact struggle but still has her own problems. Cassie constantly falls in love with every guy she meets, and this leads to her becoming overly attached. In the first episode of season 2, we were introduced to a new relationship involving Cassie and Nate. The show’s only two episodes in, and we can already see Cassie clinging onto Nate and becoming attached even though their agreement was to never tell anyone about what they’re doing. Cassie’s a lot like every teenager who becomes attached too fast and ends up being hurt down the line. Viewers watch her spiral and have nervous breakdowns when she’s no longer in a relationship and not feeling validated from any man. Some watchers might think Cassie’s a little psychotic or insane, but she’s really like every other person in the world who just wants to feel loved and appreciated.