Euphoria and the Art of Navel Gazing
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- čas přidán 21. 03. 2022
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SOURCES:
Sadie Bell, “Breaking Down the Hellish New Year's Eve Party in the 'Euphoria' Season 2 Premiere” Thrillist (2022)
Ellie Harrison, “Sydney Sweeney: ‘I’m very proud of my work on Euphoria - but no one talks about it because I got naked’” Independent (2022).
Jim Hemphill, “‘Euphoria’ Season 2 Cinematographer Marcell Rév Tells Us What It’s Like to Shoot from the Gut” Indie Wire (2022).
Evan Ross Katz, “The Women Make Euphoria The cast on playing teens forever on the brink of disaster.” The Cut (2022)
Soraya Nadia McDonald, “Who’s afraid of ‘Malcolm & Marie’? Certainly not Edward Albee.” Andscape (2021).
Olivia Ovenden, “Sam Levinson on Taking Criticism, Art in Isolation and 'Malcolm & Marie;” Esquire (2021).
Cheyenne Roundtree, “‘Euphoria’ Season 2 Crew and Background Actors Speak Out Against Sam Levinson’s ‘Toxic’ Production” Daily Beast (2022).
Cheyenne Roundtree, “Inside ‘Euphoria’ Season 2’s Messy Behind-the-Scenes Drama, From Sam Levinson to Barbie Ferreira Storming Off” The Daily Beast (2022)
Matt Zoller Seitz, “Why Euphoria Feels So Real, Even When It Isn’t Realistic” Vulture (2019)
Tim Stack, “Euphoria breakout Hunter Schafer on daring show: 'There's a lot of stuff that hasn't been on TV before'” Entertainment Weekly (2019). - Zábava
Hello! I just want to explain that when I discuss nudity in the show, I am not saying the actresses' comments were irresponsible. Like I said, Levinson is way too eager to write nudity into his scenes and the comments from multiple actors corroborate that. I am just discussing the way I think the public has seized every single comment made by every single actor/background actor as an reason to cast Levinson in a completely indefensible light, regardless of what has actually been said. Criticizing the objectification of actors is one thing, but I think casting Levinson as a real life pervert who forces his actresses to do things they don't want to is another - especially when it's all based off of conjecture or completely contradictory to how they felt about being on set. This doesn't negate the fact that his actors are too objectified, or that there is a power imbalance that may inhibit them from speaking truthfully. But I do think the inflammatory nature with which we discuss this plays into the idea that audiences have become unable to talk about complicated issues in popular media without casting that media as black/white morally indefensible.
I'm being opportunistic and just want to say I'm a huge fan of your work. I haven't even watched this one yet to honest (on it now).
Nuance, you want nuance on the internet?! But, yeah, a situation can have more complexity than people want to talk about. Black and white is easier and, honestly, I think we have become too prone to seeing life this way.
The fact you felt the need to repeat your position in a comment, speaks to how audiences jump on their first thought and fight to the death on that hill. There are other hills people!
@Suha E this is such a perfect response and exactly how I feel. I think Broey is too quick in dismissing the issue - there’s a lot of weight there that she seems to disregard.
I think another commenter hit the nail on the head! Sam Levinson inserts himself into the characters… it’s a pattern: art imitates life with him.
So many of the male characters are abusive and/or predatory, and the women are either following these men around, heartbroken at their lives because of these men, OR given some token agency so that they seem dimensional and respected as characters.
But I think they are really just playthings for his personal imaginings. And I think something you may have missed speaks volumes to this. Sam didn’t just come unprepared to season two, he torpedoed it!
First clue is Malcolm and Marie in which he literally hijacks two black bodies following the criticism of Euphoria to deliver his whining rants of being a misunderstood artist.
Then he shows up to the second season set with a “if you thought that was wild, wait till you see this sh*t!” Attidtude and absolutely NO regard for character continuity or development and also with no real collaborators… that was HIS ship to blow up.
The actors and characters in Euphoria are literally his puppets. He only used actor input to create believability , but his goal is to stick it to his critics in the most shocking visual ways.
And I think given the abusive nature of most of the men of this series and how the women pine for them and then are given just enough agency to appear to be respected by the Sam Levinson, plus the vague uneasiness that something just doesn’t feel right… Those are red flags that need to be taken seriously.
That is expert level gaslighting. Remember gaslighting is felt as a nagging and uncomfortable feeling that something just isn’t right, but you can’t really pinpoint anything exactly wrong either.
I think after reading all the comments of little things being just “not right.” It’s assembling a picture and patterns of Sam Levinson
Amazing that s1 was about the trauma of Cassie being sexually exploited, only to exclusively exploit her in s2
This 👏🏼
FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
isn't that the point though? someone's traumatic past will haunt them forever, they won't change out of a sudden.
@@kristenlam7858 that would be a fair point, IF Cassie were s3xualizing herself. But she isn’t. The show/Sam levinson is. Cassie isn’t directing the camera to have a zoom in close up on her breasts where only her boobs and Nate’s face are visible. Cassie didn’t write a scene where Nate fantasies about her, purely so that there can be a dozen nude/s3x scenes of her, only to write Nate immediately after that sequence not giving a fuck about Cassie (so basically that scene was made only to exploit her body). Cassie didn’t write Lexi’s play to objectify and make fun of her body. Cassie didn’t call out “show us your boobs” to herself from the audience (which we’re supposed to laugh at. Ew.). Etc etc
the fact that mckay and kat both had full cold opens dedicated to them in the first season, and were essentially written out in the second is insane
Regarding Mckay I always felt he was pretty much about to be written out by the end of season 1. He was an example of how even a seemingly nice guy still wasn't able to go beyond Cassie's reputation, and let everybody else influence his attitude towards her. The way he behaved towards her after getting assaulted and how he pressured her into getting an abortion but didn't bother to help her or support her throughout the whole ordeal told me everything I needed to know about him.
@@saramoreira9847 oh no i definitely agree. just ignoring all of mckay’s nuance and other flaws, forcing cassie to get an abortion immediately makes me strongly dislike him; that being said, it was just lazy writing to have one of the main characters of one season simply disappear because he no longer could be used in cassie’s development.
@@gracieg6485 I can't really see where else they would take him honestly, his friendship with Nate mayyybe?
@@saramoreira9847 they couldve done a storyline based on the fact that he had to repress himself as a Black person in a white community
Yes but he was nates friend also
Cassie got so much screentime this season, but at the same time we got very little insight into her mind and reasoning. She is not a person but this flailing spectacle that embarasses herself over and over again, something to make fun of and laugh at. Paired with the ...enjoyment the camera takes in her body and the implication that she is now trapped in an abusive relationship it just feels so incredible gross
I think it’s cuz Cassie views herself as just a charicature of a person existing for just sexual purposes and for the way men view her. It’s like her personality IS being viewed thriving the male gaze?
What happens when a sole man writes a female character story
but maybe we didnt get enough insight because rue was drugged out and so out of touch with them all and we as the viewer are watching this story primarily through rue?
its just a thought
i too am disappointed
@@martapeixoto8700 I don’t think it’s all about that tho. I think that’s where the story was meant to go. Like I think maddys arc this season was really good and Sam did write this. I agree that he needs more writers but maybe Cassie’s sexualisations has a purpose?
@@catharticmemefairy2088 But that's what OP is saying, why does she view herself this way? It has to go deeper, no one views themself that way just cause
i think euphoria worked perfectly when they were introducing characters, they did it so well that when they ran out of characters to introduce, sam levinson didnt know what to do next
It's why some series should simply end. Or at lease make season 2 a soft reboot where different group of people experience their own issues to show different perspectives.
@@ExeErdna yep. That's why I like tv shows with only one season. You know that the story told is gonna have a satisfying ending, not trying to drag it longer than it should, and each episode is carefully crafted..
i think he’s good at set up but not at seeing poot lines through
@@Me-vn3gz Yeah, he's good at having ideas and "concepts" but no development whatsoever for bad or for good. Even in Malcolm and Marie the setting was the most interesting thing because except for that it's almost 2 hours of the characters not changing or evolving in any way whatsoever. They end up where they started.
You know, that kind of frustrates me. I wish we could have gotten a cold open to Gia, Leslie, Ethan and even BB. Season 2 could have utilised these characters. For one it gives character development to these background characters and they could have further characterised their leading characters ( Rue, Jules, Nate, Cassie, Maddy and Kat).
sam struck a gold of having such talented actors that can make his messy writing work
kudos to sydney for making cassies nonsensical character decision believable
Fr because Sydney breathed fire into Cassie’s one dimensional character. Her season 1 character had so much potential but this season buried and drove her into the ground. It’s such a shame
@@Sam-0827 yea cassie wouldn't be that desperate for attention from someone like nate, not after she saw the way he abused maddy
now on paper it is not a bad idea for cassie and nate to be a thing but the execution was downright atrocious and just stinks of first draft.
if they wanted to make it even more tragic how about have this season where cassie tries to accomplish her goals and be happy single but nate being desperate to keep his image of the straight guy, goes after the easy target -- cassie and tries to manipulate her into falling for him and then in the season finale she reaches her breaking point and falls for him.
@@casper3105 you said exactly what I felt about this relationship. Shock value over actual character development
She was absolutely amazing!
@@casper3105 exactly! People are saying, “OH sHE diDn’T knOw nATE WoULd Be likE THat,” the hell she didn’t. Maddy was her best friend for Christ sake and witnessed the abuse brought onto Maddy by Nate. She knew exactly what she was getting into. The way they executed it was also horrible, like you said, as S1’s ending told a different story from the beginning of S2
"The problem with Sam Levinson's later work is not that it prioritizes style - it's that it prioritizes Sam Levinson." Absolutely perfect summary and 100% true.
It almost feels like Sam is falling into his own hype- forgetting his purpose is not just to exist and make art but to follow the story he’s created.
Right
"A bunch of well-lit teens speaking the musings of a 37 year old man" JFDHJLSDFLKJLJKSDFLJKDFJLKDFLKJLJKSDF SO TRUE QUEEN
Cassie and Nate DO NOT make sense for me. Cassie made the decision to “be by herself” and then completely throws that away without any doubt or conflict. When someone tells tells her, whenever she feels like saying yes, instead say no, it’s thrown into the wind with no consequence. Then their fight in season 2…I had no will to care. It all felt so forced.
it's rumored that it was suppose to be Nate and Jules, which makes more sense and builds on the last season. But the actors don't get along so it was scrapped.
i really hated that they added that fight. felt like it happened just to play up the nonexistent cassie vs maddy rivalry (when it's not the simple). like what purpose does it serve? just cause the fans wanted it probably. i really wanted to see a full conversation between maddy and cassie, that never happened. not even in the bathroom scene...
@@babyb33p08 i hope that's fake, it makes it all even worse for me tbh
Right?! They just never made sense to me.
@@babyb33p08 the actors don't get along?
Levinson feels like a child playing with dolls, especially that quote about “do you think she should walk by that corner” and then taking 30 minutes to reset the camera and not letting extras eat. These are real people, not toys
I enjoyed the first season, but I think that we can all agree that the second was a muddled mess all around. Zendaya's performance in the fifth episode was a definite highlight, though.
I hope I don't sound creepy but I just want to say that you are on every video I watch
@@luthientinuviel3883 yeah they really are everywhere lol
In the least weird way possible, I just looked at everyone your subbed to and I’m honestly scared. We subscribe to so many of the same people talking about so many different things. Wether its Starkid, the six idiots, musicals, historical fashion CZcamsrs, fashion CZcamsrs, commentary CZcamsrs, video essay CZcamsrs, bbc and channel 4 stuff, movie reviewers, people who talk about adaptations, cinema therapy, musicals stuff again lol, history CZcamsrs, meme channels, company’s etc etc etc. Like we even follow the same channels with just a few thousand subs it’s actually insane. I think we might actually be the same person lol.
you are everywhere
I really really admire the show's warnings about drug addiction and she really steals the show, compared to what Maddy lovers say. other than that, all the high school drama shit is just petty
Yeah every character, except for Rue, feel so different. Their actions, most of the times, do not make sense. Half of the time, I was just so confused why a character was doing something so stupid. Like Nate with the gun. Wtf was that? Cassie felt like a whole different person from season 1. And Jules..... her character assassination hurts my soul.
"character assassination" made me laugh hehe that's exactly what season 2 was. I genuinely think the show should have focused on Rue instead of going into so many subjects so superficially
@@sandy-bc2to I agree. Because of Sam's connection to Rue, that was the only genuine part, everything else felt off.
Jules’ character going down the drain hurts after Hunter put her heart and soul into the special episode of Jules, hurts so much
Honestly ... to me Cassie makes a lot of sense actually. That's what happens to many girls after what Cassie went through - broken family, used and abused by every single man in her life, unwanted abortion, breakup that eventually broke her completely etc etc
She's confused and is searching even more than ever for herself while actually losing herself more than ever. It's sad and looks very sensationalistic in the show, but I think it fits. On the other hand - the nude scenes are too many imo. She's a beautiful woman, but her boobs don't need to be shoved in our faces every 5 seconds.
A lot of it just to make the viewer feel a type of way. In the guns sense, it was just make you feel “suspenseful!”
The fact that the season had no plan and was based on whims except the intervention. MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE 🤯
It’s so weird that massive franchises will do this. Like even the Disney Star Wars trilogy had no plan, and like that was a massive million dollar franchise, so you’d think planning something that large would be useful.
"The plight of writing about people much more interesting than you" 💀
I mean there it is. On many levels.
This was phenomenal, its fascinating to see someone dive into late career auteur behaviour well before being seen as that, and interesting how he learned the wrong lessons from the success of the first season. I think the idea of the auteur is always to some degree a sort of self destructive engagement with ego for the artist where they cease learning and often uncritically make the same mistakes as they have in the past in worse ways.
Suddenly every decision they've ever made artistically is canon and they never grow again
@lamia banana Yes actually a competent director works with all of the talented artists around them to elevate their work. Have you ever worked on a collaborative work of art? Because I have many times; the majority of which I was the equivalent position of a film director. Yes someone needs to make final decisions but no its not all just one person especially in a film. Collaboration is a part of the creative process. Please go learn about what editors and cinematographers and actors and stunt coordinators and stunt performers and lighting teams and vfx supervisors did on your favourite film by an auteur and come back to me and honestly say its the vision of exclusively one person and no one else helped to make that film what it is.
I agree!
@@Aranock true!
I feel like McKay was written out mainly because he had was the most "normal" and least potential to go crazy. Not knowing what to do with him after his breakup with Cassie and some *bias* which also resulted in way more screentime given to the white characters (Rue being the only exception) also potentially playing a part
he was the most normal but i wouldn't rule him out as the least crazy, he represses and bottles his emotions a lot, the scene where he was assulted in his dorm by ski masked wearing dudes and the way he was forcing himself to continue having sex with cassie was a bit creepy. he had a lot of potential as a character but sam doesn't know how to write characters he can't relate to and is far less collaborative in the second season and it's really disappointing
@@casper3105 that's true, hearing details on how he worked on the last season explained so much in those regards
I think Levinson wrote himself into a corner by making McKay be the only one in college, without his relationship with Cassie he has essentially no connection to the rest of the narrative and they would need to find some contrived explanation to keep him relevant
It's just not a great look when the character who easily lifts right out happens to also be one of the main black characters in the show
18:55 let's talk about how a lot of directors are not given the budget they want, especially if they want to shoot on film which is notably very expensive. I think about Greta Gerwig talking about wanting to shoot on film (for Little Women, if I remember correctly) and how she had to justify it to the studio etc, and here we have Sam Levinson doing whatever just because he can
Levinson is a nepobaby and a man, so its not surprizing
Being Someone's Son might have helped.
I think the amount of freedom and money Levinson was given actually worked to the detriment of the show. Sometimes you need limitations to push yourself creatively. The show just kind of meandered and wallowed in its style and lost a lot of substance.
@@isabelstewart8443 Spot On.
He was never creatively challenged, that's for sure. Malcolm and Mary, told the audience how He takes criticism. All that writhing around, for one who hasn't even a semblance of legacy.
Nepotism, I say.
@@TititoDeBologay euphoria being a near game of thrones level hit + publicity/money source for HBO helped I think. And it costs way less than what something like GoT would so a more indulgent budget for season is justified imho.
Levinson may be an indulgent nepo bb but the success going from S1 to S2 is legit. (So is the ultimate letdown that S2 became…)
The fact that Sydney Sweeney requested a few nude scenes not be done, and everytime Levinson was cool with it, blows my mind. Like... If some were cut than how many were there originally!? I think there's about 4 or 5 of hers in season 2 how many did he have in mind?
Season 2 didn’t feel like a natural continuation from season 1 , it felt like someone re-enacted a fan fiction , to be honest it feels like Sam kind of got lost in “ what would sam do “ rather than seeing euphoria as something he created , it’s like stopping a novel mid-way than continuing it with the mentality of “ what would ppl expect “ rather than “what was I writing “
I have... Multiple questions about Sam Levinson and his tendency toward black and black-biracial actors for his self-inserts.
!!!!!!!
THIS!
Nepotism kid wants edge???
It's the same mentality black boys wanting to be Superman, Batman, Goku, Green Ranger and other non black heroes. It's a release to self-insert in what you can never be.
@@ExeErdna What?? That is not remotely the same..
Pretty obvious Sam needs to just have the actors write their own lines like when Daniel kaluya wrote skins
Skins is everything Euphoria wished to be, except that the latter is more aesthetically pleasing.
Throughout the seasons, Skins actors, still in their late teens, were very much active in the writing rooms, Daniel Kaluuya, Dev Patel, Nicola Hoult and more, were involved in most of the creative process, especially the dialogues and it showed.
I believe that Hunter Schafer was involved in some way with the writing of Jules' special episode? I can't remember correctly (and that was one of the best episodes of Euphoria)
@@TititoDeBologay omg Dev I love Dev!!! Such a phenomenal actor
@@chrys8991 that’s why the Jules special is an nearly uncontested favorite in euphoria Stans
Or just a writers room in general. That way a basic structure can be adhered to even if he wants to stray a little bit and having writers of multiple perspectives and identities can limit the number of “uh oh” moments. Yeah their are some people who can one man band it like Amy Sherman Palladino but she’s not only more experienced by several decades, but also from her work, you can tell she runs a tight ship. Her blocking on Marvelous Mrs.Maisel is so meticulous and precise that she hires dancers as background extras to make sure the movement is exactly to her liking. And it pays off because it means she can basically stage full on musical numbers as throwaway gags.
Also re: the nudity - I think the issue many people have is that he seems to be testing these women to see where their boundaries are and what they'll cave in to and what they'll say no to. It seems that he presents unnecessary female nudity and very gratuitous nudity and is seeing how far he can push or control the actresses in that regard, a behavior not uncommon with controlling abusers. I believe that is an issue here, that he appears to be seeing how far he can push them until they put their foot down. When 4 actresses came forward about this (and a male actor w/r/t Chloe Cherry's nudity), it indicates a pattern.
Super interesting! I think this could also speak to the collaboration problem - how Levinson has a singular vision (in this instance a very problematic one) and doesn't seem to account or care for the idea that there are people working with/under him. Writing excessive nudity for pure shock value (or even audience pleasure) and not considering that there are real people who are supposed to be in those scenes, who might not be comfortable with it or find it necessary. I also think this "limit pushing" is unfortunately super common with male auteurs - and again, he is not even an "auteur" yet.
@@BroeyDeschanel I agree - thanks for responding! And yeah, he wishes he was an auteur (but as you have beautifully shown, his work has turned towards more self-gratifying and self-obsessive circlejerk material) and sadly if he goes down that auteur path, he’ll have a very well worn road ahead of him, paved by the footsteps of men who continue to expect actresses to nude up for them without issue and on demand. An issue which just makes me want to keep watching female auteurs and non-exploitative men, like Ousmane Sembéne. I hope someone does videos about international female auteurs (oooh, that would give me a reason to learn editing…). I’m into Larisa Shepitko at the moment, a true badass to the end (may she Rest In Peace)….
P.S. It seems to me like “auteurs” (a fraught label, I know) in interdependent countries seem to work more interdependently than “auteurs” in independent ones as well. So the meaning changes too.
So true. I found it sad how the actress basically said oh Sam's great he doesn't force me to do things. And went on to say that she felt horrible after shoots she's done in the past. So it's like Sam gets a medal for not being as bad cos the bar is so low :(
@@Erin-ho8qu yep, plus the actresses really had no choice but to commend him publicly, or else it’d be instant negative drama
Hollywood is full of controlling abusers, throw a stone in any direction and you'll hit a scumbag in the industry.
Finally a piece of media criticism that don't fall under the "this media has AWAYS been BAD and only now people are seeing it! Everybody is stupid and im so smart!" category. I mean, i understand it is fun to bash at popular media we don't understand the appeal of, specially if said media is receiving a more widespread criticism. But i think that the real tragedy of Euphoria is that its second season justifies all the criticisms the first season received. For example, i don't think season 1 in any way glamorized abuse of substances, there was always consequences, always a "sobriety" in where we could see the aftermath as it was (Cassie humiliated, Maddy hurt, Jules depressed and Rue almost dead) but season 2? Wft is Elliot? What's his purpose? Elliot as a character sounds like a walking "it is cool to use drugs as long as you don't act like an addict, as long as you're cool" i don't know why Elliot exists in the first place. In season 1 we had a very intricate narrative, everything had it purpose, that's why we can excuse the nudity and "unrealistic" makeup and costuming, because it helped tell the story. But season 2? It felt like there was no story to tell at all. And the thing that makes me genuinely angry is that there WAS a story to tell, i mean, what about Kat's creppy last client? What about Cassie's abortion? What about Nate blackmailing Jules to make her commit perjury? What about Maddy committing perjury voluntarily? What about McKay being assaulted in college? I mean... Maddy literally ended season 1 discovering the dvd Nate's father made, and what she does with it? Absolutely nothing. I got the genuine impression that Sammy boy just got tired of the story he was crafting in season 1 and decided to just make a new one from the start. Sorry if it was a bit of a rant.
I think Elliot shows that sometimes people doing drugs are doing well. We don’t see any negative repercussions, because there aren’t any, at least not any yet. The problem comes when those consequences arrive (like it’s the case with Rue). Like when people always drink and get wasted and are doing alright, but one day they realise (or don’t, unfortunately) that alcohol has become an addiction and a real issue. At first it seems ok but you never know when it’s gonna get bad. That said, his storyline was a mess, it didn’t have a real ending (the song doesn’t count) and so his character felt pointless in the end. And the abandoned storylines (Kat, Cassie etc) are a mess too
Fr, the new euphoria watchers have been very annoying
Most criticisms of euphoria have been similar. Most people think season 1 is really good and season 2 sucks
Eliot's purpose was just to create a love triangle with Rue and Jules. Which was a pointless storyline. His storyline could've worked to show what a high functioning addict looks like. Compared to a low functioning one. How he could impact rue's addiction by enabling her. Because someone who is high functioning thinks what they're doing is normal. Even though you're still an addict. Enabling someone is a form of toxic behaviour. But when both of you are alike you think what you're doing is normal. From an outsider's perspective they know you're both toxic.
100% agree!
One of my favourite feelings is when a better writer than me perfectly and succinctly states something I've always thought but had trouble verbalising. "Narratives don't need to be universal; emotions do." Damn!
THANK YOU for addressing how fucked up and over the top lexi's play was. idk why the euphoria fandom keeps hyping it up. she humiliated her sister in front of the entire school and outed nate just to mock him? like yeah the point of the play is calling people out on their shit but i dont feel like things were addressed in a meaningful way. im all for calling out toxic masculinity, internalized homophobia and abuse. i dont even mind her diving into the consequences of daddy issues and low self esteem. wouldve loved to see her explore all of that in a nuanced way. but the play just ended up being an unhinged parody
i think people just liked it because of the drama, which i don't get. it really did nothing for the story
i liked it because i had stopped watching the show seriously at that point and i reframed it as fodder for memes
Sincerely, the minute the caroussel scene came up it made me afraid that had Cassie been somewhere else the next scenes would be exposing her abortion.
@@saramoreira9847 awwwww go cry about it
@@_900_L stop
First friendly space ninja euphoria video then yours on the same day, amazing
What if Amanda the Jedi comes out with one later today too? :o
I actually left Friendly Space Ninja's video to rush and watch this, I was so excited.
Saying that complaints about the nudity are "irresponsible" fail to take into account that there is a power dynamic between Sam and the actors. No matter how "receptive" he seems, they are still at work and being asked to do a lot of gratuitous nudity scenes. He deliberately casted a porn star for a reason, then planned for her first scene on set to be nude (assuming she'd be okay with it) which made her uncomfortable. Of course the actors may feel the need to say the contrary to save face, but the nudity is excessive nudity is borderline exploitative and also creepy considering he is depicting teens.
Exactly! Plus he wins either way. Either the actress agrees and he gets what he wants or she pushes back and he gets to look like a feminist hero for 'listening' to her. The fact that he planned for a nude scene on their first day on set for two news actresses this season makes it clear that it's a way for him to see how much he can get away with.
I want to clarify that I'm not saying the actresses' comments about the nudity were irresponsible - I am saying the way news outlets and twitter have deliberately twisted their comments to make it sound like Levinson forced them into nudity is irresponsible - especially for journalists. I've seen a lot of inflammatory statements being made against him that have no grounding in what the actors actually said, simply because of this. But as I said - we should definitely criticize him for being too trigger happy with nudity, like you are saying here. And I agree that there is a power imbalance that inhibits them from speaking against him, and that he shouldn't be writing it in so needlessly when his own actors think it's over the top.
@Calm Blizzard Chloe Cherry played Jules in the sex parody, not Cassie.
@Calm Blizzard he definitely does seem weirdly attracted to Cassie and Maddy honestly like we didn't need to watch Cassie topless in every episode and what was the deal with him showing Maddy changing clothes every single time? Especially with Cassie, her nudity was just over the top
@Calm Blizzard my god the creepiness in that, you're probably right. It's concerning
in a world of bad euphoria takes this was lovely
maybe bcuz it’s more than a “take” it’s a comprehensive essay
@Booper Dooper people can kick whatever media they want lmao you go keep enjoying things instead of telling people what opinion to have or not. trash is trash doesn't matter if it's popular or not.
tbh i think the over pretentious words malcom used fit perfectly because this is who he tries to appear "an intellectual" , he puts himself on this pedestal of superiority so to speak like a snob and use fancy words carelessly i think fits his image
Did anyone else notice that a lot of the makeup looks were lackluster in season 2… in season 1 every look was carefully constructed for each scene and what the characters were conveying at that time. The looks weren’t particularly bound in reality (i.e. the characters are wearing that makeup in their fantasy, not in real life.) There were tons of looks from season 1 that were so iconic people still recreated them for halloween two years after the first season, but there’s just none of that in season 2. Most characters are barefaced in their scenes, or wearing more “typical” everyday makeup looks. It sucks that they dropped the makeup, it was a very interesting part of the storytelling and a very effective communicator of the “melodrama of late teens”
If you hear from the makeup artist, the lack of makeup was actually done on purpose for various reason (you should look it up for yourself, it’s actually interesting)
@@mimsycookiiess can you link
Unpopular opinion: I think Euphoria works better as a miniseries and a traditional tv show.
what does this mean
I think it was actually supposed to be a miniseries that ends with nate dying
@@hoboken3971 don't get it either
replace and with than, they made an error i think
i honestly suggest watching euphoria season 1 as a miniseries and ending it there, i feel like the season finale of season 1 can work as a conclusion
i honestly kinda like that cassie did some fucked up things this season, it felt like it made sense to me but it didn't feel like the show was trying to excuse her actions. still, the plotline kinda came out of nowhere and i wish there would've been more build up. most of the season is spent on her, nate and maddy's relationship and a lot of that even felt like fluff bits. i liked seeing how her issues and need for love can become unsettlingly unhealthy, but it did feel like levinson was just making her do crazy things for the sake of shock sometimes.
I agree. I think people fail to realize that Cassie was already exactly like that in season one. She could ruin any of her relationships for male validation : it was only a matter of time before it would impact her relationship with her girlfriends. The problem is that this plot line itself wasn’t built up properly, instead they set up something between Jules and Nate and I really was disappointed when that went nowhere
@@depgabby riiiiight I feel like GOT did the same thing. The build up of relationships is what makes a show good and real feeling. But then for some reason the writers don’t want it to feel too “obvious” and completely disjoint the show by adding weird curveballs
I agree and the actress playing Cassie was so incredible and played even the exploitive parts REALLY well, amazing in fact. But ya it felt forced and out of nowhere, and really uncomfortable and exploitive. There are many way the show could have explored how you can become lost, especially with neglectful alcoholic parents, and how being wanted, “owned,” and used feels like love. He could have explored how her forced abortion and rejection broke her mind and will. Instead Levinson turned it into a porno with not consequence and superficial emotional interaction and consequences
Love the points you are making about Euphoria -- it's refreshing to hear someone engage with the value adds of SL's work.
To the points you (and many people make) about Sam writing Malcolm as a self-insert...... as a Black woman who has been in an abusive, artistic emotionally fucked relationship with a Black man like Malcolm -- they exist. Shit, just going to art school in NYC and meeting Black men that wish to effectively escape their 'lot in life' thru their art and wish to be above politics while also seen as revolutionary (hello kanye?). I really have a mind to make a video essay breaking down the perception of Malcom & Marie because while absolutely clunky, I think it's telling how quickly people are to write off Zendaya and JDW's own agency in participating in the film. It's also telling the way people are quick to overlook Marie as a character just to consider, with the flaws of the narrative, as someone not written before (a young Black girl, locked into a vulnerable, and emotionally violent situation). You're right that we don't know why they are together (even though they clearly met while she was using) -- but it can be concluded that she stays with him because where else does she have to go? That's what Malcolm (and other abusers) weaponize against their partners. Yes there is much to critique about M&M, but if you can see the nuanced poignant nature of Assassination Nation, I invite you to think about Malcolm and Marie as representation for young black women, who have experienced emotional/mental abuse in intimate partnership. Statistically, we are more likely to d*e at the hands of a partner; M&M portrays that pervasive reality in an arty, clunky, could've been better way, but it shows it nonetheless.
This is actually a really interesting take, and I agree. Seeing it in that light, I get what you're saying. I feel like if the movie was made with this intention in mind, it would've been better. But it wasn't, and that's why it still feels like a self insert with no substance. And it's hard to read anything into it with that in mind imo.
Make the video PLEASE 🙏🏿
This was such a great video. It especially helped me contextualize what I had personally found to be the most baffling aspect of S2: Lexi's play. A whole season of watching Cassie in emotional freefall ends with a 2-part episode of her sister kicking her on the way down to the entire school's chants and cheers of approval paired with the explicit message that doing so was artistically good. How had Levinson come to such a mean-spirited conclusion and why had he decided to frame it as wholesome? But as Broey said, the show prioritized Sam Levinson and he clearly felt like it was more important to defend the value of dangerous art than to explore the clear if unintended cruelty of Lexi's actions. Which is a shame because I do think there's value in dangerous art that lies in taking aim at unjust status quos that need upending or speaking truth to power when it needs to be held accountable. Lexi confusing humiliating her sister for speaking truth to power in a bout of misguided self-importance is an idea that has real narrative heft to it but it seems to me that Levinson didn't realize that was intriguing part of the setup he wrote since he appears to have sincerely come down on Lexi's side.
It’s an interesting debate and at the time I praised that plot point for its moral greyness. But looking back it seems to ultimately view that as good, especially with the scene that was included in this video.
Plus you look at that moment where Cassie freaks out on stage and you can sympathise with her as inappropriate as it is, but it seems like the intention is very much for us to totally dislike Cassie, see her in the wrong and want her to be physically attacked by Maddy. Hell when she starts attacking the actor who was playing her on the carousel, as harsh as that is you can take her side. But the episode comes down on Lexi being the one to feel sorry for and Cass being the bad one.
Incredible work as always!!
Omgod i love ur work hello
Omg another favorite channel of mine!! I love crossovers
I love that more people are looking at the Cassie situation from a different perspective. Many in the fan base just started hating Cassie so much that they lost all critical thinking skills. Like when her mother neglected her or when her little sister was publicly humiliating her they were just cheering. As well as everybody in the show. It kind of ruined the season for me. Especially the finale with Lexis play.
Nah Cassie definitely deserves it she was a bad sister since day one and a bad friend
@@tonystonem9614you are exactly the type of person who is not even 15 years old and watches the series thinking you understands something about it 💀
Kinda feels like Sam cared more about the shock value of plot lines rather than writing plot lines that actually made sense
What I absolutely loved about the show in Season 1 is how the girls were all friends. I remember telling my bf at the time that I had never seen a show before that didn't capitalize on the age-old stereotype of women competing and cat fighting. That last episode when they're all sitting around the table at the dance was so beautiful to me. They were all friends. Like me and my friends in high school. Finally a show that portrayed the relationships of young female friendship accurately, instead of exploiting them. And then came Season 2.
I've watched Season 1 over 10 times. It is my single most watched season of any tv show. After each episode of season 2, I would complain about character assassination and pacing with my best friend, and I haven't rewatched any of them. Thank you for making this :)
Classic example of "the show hurt my feelings, therefore the writing is bad"
@@Ryuk45 no. as someone who’s not emotionally attached to the show at all, i can confidently say that season 2 jumped the shark and felt like an alternate universe soap opera of the same characters
@IntrepidTit I'll watch it, sure. I just won't have the same expectations going in.
@@Ryuk45 liking death note didn't help you much
@@Ryuk45 Classic example of ratio + L + didn't ask don't care plus you're an anime fan
None of the characters were consistent and none of them developed the seasons ends leaving everyone exactly where they were probably except rue. Collaboration when it comes to film making is very important, we definitely needed more perspectives.
26:00 The funny thing about this statement, which is so blatantly meta-commentary, is that Levinson's art IS boring. He doesn't seem to realize that the reason people liked season one of Euphoria was because they were invested in the characters and their unique perspectives. Now that Levinson is focusing more on himself than the characters, he's sucked the life out of the show. Sam Levinson has bought into his own hype, and Euphoria is suffering for it. Levinson's work following season one of Euphoria is a million times more interesting to talk about than it is to watch.
This is such a fantastic break down and articulates exactly how I feel about the 2nd season of Euphoria! Also so great to include his other work that I wasn't as familiar with for a comparison. I love your work, it is so well edited and carefully thought out!
"Auteur" should really be treated like a nickname-- other people use it to call you, but you don't go around trying to start it and make it into a thing yourself.
Can you elaborate? I'm an aspiring filmmaker when I learnt about auteur, it really resonated with the kind of films I want to make because those kind of films are not made that much in my country.
in fairness about instinctive direction (not storyboarding), there are plenty of directors who successfully do this (Mike Leigh, Stanley Kubrick, Wong Kar Wai, etc.).
but the catch is, you have to be good at it; you have to be able to make these decisions within a reasonable time that doesn't overly effect the production and crew, which it sounds like Levinson wasn't able to do.
Yeah, like Maia said in the video - Levinson doesn’t seem to understand what made S1 good, so he ended up with a product that looks pretty but is merely a string of hollow montages.
The malcom and Marie clip??? Genuinely so exhausting, I couldn’t make it through
The biggest mistake was changing the episode structure/eliminating the single character episodes. It made season 2 so sloppy bc the plot was never growing off a foundation, it was like a tree that kept branching away from its roots.
I fell in love with season 1, and I’ve never been so let down by a season 2. I was heartbroken when I found out Kat wouldn’t be back. To me, it makes zero sense that she would even develop an eating disorder considering the plot of season 1 was her fully feeling her image. And I so wanted to find out where her cam story was headed. Aside from Rue’s withdrawal episode, I could have done without the whole 2nd season. It’s just such a damn shame.
I know something was gonna be off on this season when mid-way through the season after Nate recovering the butt beating of the century, he didn’t do any revenge to fez I say this bc in the first season we seen whenever Nate is humiliated and embarrassed in front of everyone he does his best to get revenge on the person who did especially since it connects to his insecurity over his masculine persona I would’ve thought fez beating nate up in front of everyone and have him look weak would’ve triggered him to get in revenge mode but nothing happened. That’s when I knew this season was gonna be weird switch up and not the best way possible
I’ve seen all of euphoria and I just couldn’t shake the feeling that levinson *is* a creep. There’s really no defending that fact that he made the show specifically about teens and proceeded to put them in graphic sex scenes. The show could have easily been about adult college students…
Facts!!!
Yeah I agree
I disagree cause a big theme of the show is how this generation is different and the adultification of children. But he could have done it in a more subtle way
@@user-nf9xm7is3m I disagree bc you don’t have to show children having sex to tell us that children are having sex. I know babies die you don’t need 5 minute long scenes of it.
Hi
It remind of a joke that sort of went "After you made a movie about yourself, you discover afterward that you don't have any idea left""
broey deschanel and friendly space ninja sync is showing
Just in response to the Malcom and Marie stuff, I had that relationship and fights like in the film (not about acceptance speeches though). The person I dated was this self-indulgent writer that would formulate his sentences in the same pretentious way (probably to let everybody know he got an English degree 🙄). The movie came out a little while after we broke up and it was/still is important to me but I totally get why it’s not for everyone, just trying to say that it’s not as unrealistic as Broey makes it out to be…
Barbie said in an interview recently that most of the rumors she heard about herself lately are fake, which I think is strongly implying that that rumor, posted by one website, about her waking off the set and generally fighting with Sam is BS.
Who the hell cares if he’s receptive to cutting the nudity?
He’s literally obsessed with implementing it when portraying teens. Constantly putting the onus on the actors to make the, no matter what we think, awkward or uncomfortable decision of pressing against the creators work.
Broey and Friendly Space Ninja both uploading videos today on Euphoria?? What a great day for the internet
It is a good day to have eyes…and ears
Euphoria and Game Of Thrones are case studies of how hard it is for shows that are both popular and really good to maintain their quality from season to season.
I've been so excited to see your thoughts on Euphoria, despite being exhausted from the amount of articles/videos on the show. However, you always approach topics with so much nuance - I wish more people would. I'm glad you mentioned Assassination Nation too, I was super excited for the movie when it came out and wish more people discussed it.
I think its very okay to love a show, and still acknowledge that it is badly written. I loved Euphoria season 1, connected with it and watched it around 4 times. There were moments in season 2 where I was either holding my breath, or holding in tears. It's okay to love season 2 for the moments that struck a chord (I remember breaking down and ugly crying during the end of episode 4, and in episode 5, when Rue finally gets relief from her withdrawal through morphine and we see her eulogy for her dad for the first time), for the feeling of thrill and enjoyment it gave you. But the moment you say that Euphoria Season 2 is genuinely well written, you have lost me. What the show does well, it still does REALLY well, but some things are facts and the fact is that Euphoria Season 2 is narratively flawed.
this sums up my thoughts PERFECTLY
Exactly
Great acting from pretty much everyone carries the show
yes yes, the sequence to "im tired" at the end of the 4th episode makes me cry everytime i watch it, it is such a powerful portrayal of how we live with grief and what it means to lose someone before you have grown up, and wondering if they would still love you or like you as you change.
You captured a similar feeling I have despite the fact that I don’t even really like the show that much (season 1 and 2). 90% of the time I’m either cringing, laughing, or just straight up grossed out by what’s happening but that 10% is a bullseye shot that makes me frustrated the rest of the show can’t match those moments. Also Adam Newport Bara, one of the DPs who shot a couple episodes was nice enough to write back to me when I first sent him a query email about starting out.
i came into this video wondering what navel gazing was. halfway through this video i realised i wasnt going to be told what naval gazing is..
Thank you thank you thank you thank you... "The problem with Sam Levinson's later work is not that it prioritizes style... it's that it prioritizes Sam Levinson" sums up all weird and cringey feelings I had throughout watching Season 2, ESPECIALLY with Lexi as Sam Levinsons proxy character and the horrific, narcassistic and absolutely boring play, that got two eposiodes.
The teenage tendency to confuse sensationalism with depth, and victimhood with value.
the "euphoria style" isnt even sam's own invention. petra collins was hired to direct the show based on her photography and then fired from the project, so sam levinson is all reference and no substance
I think the work Petra Collins put into season one before she was dropped by HBO was instrumental in the seasons success. Her stylistic influence as well as her experiences as a young woman have no doubt shaped the show in extremely significant ways
You forgot the special episodes, Sam literally destroyed all of Jules' process, her transition, her trauma, all of her past. Jules' special episode literally was like a heart to heart letter to me, it felt so special and to see a trans character that i can relate like Jules was amazing, and he just destroyed it in S2
“We dont wanna repeat what weve done before”
*repeats characterization from s1 to a cartoonish degree*
this is SUCH a good critique and i totally agree. you put it so well. i think that the success of season 1 unfortunately contributed to this second season being so much more navel-gazing and poorly planned. sam levinson likely had a higher budget and an established fanbase for the show, which allowed him to be more spontaneous in his production of it without the same planning pressures of a pilot season for a major network. he had the financial cushion and the popularity to rest on his laurels and be self-indulgent. and it is a shame because, like you said, season 1 and assassination nation are impeccable works of an obvious directorial talent. here's hoping next season is more tightly planned and written and we see some of our favorite characters again.
brah that felt like 10mins instead of 30. I NEED MORE
You and ninja both made videos on the same TV-show, that I've never seen, on the same day. And I watched both of them. Awesome.
28:00 hearing everyone praise the switch to ektrachrome was so weird to me. As you mentioned, the digital film and contemporary vibe of season 1 cinematography felt woven into the narrative of the season in that it was empathizing with gen z. Why would you shift the cinematography towards "a memory of high school" as Marcel Rev puts it when the whole point was explaining the zeitgeist of the youth of today? The lighting in euphoria is kind of a meme, but it works narratively, children bathed in an electronic glow of their screens, or fantasying about a different life, or the escapist hedonism of sex and drugs. A big part of many characters stories also involve the internet in some way or another, for instance Maddy being caught cheating at McKay, Nate's exposure to his father's films, and Kat's cam-girl arch. Season 2 was beautiful. But the vibes were nostalgic and retro. Instead of forging a new aesthetic and building upon what was previously established in the last season, it relied on the old. To me, this is symptomatic of Euphoria season 2 loosing the plot, it seemed it not only lost the story beats, but what the meaning of the story was originally set out to be.
one of the best video essays i have ever watched. made me realise that i liked season 2 bc i was attached to the characters already rather than bc it was good in itself
Damn, most of if not all the actors were surprised with the crazy direction season 2 went
flashfoward to 2023. now theres the idol and no hope
Super excited to see this one! Always lovely seeing your work pop up Broey. Your production process just keeps getting better!
I interpreted the rue&jules love montage as an insight in rue's way of perceiving/experiencing attraction and love. How its less sexual yet deeply aesthetic and emotional
As a person on the the ace spectrum I felt really seen by that.
Otherwise I agree with you eventho i think at this point its sorta redundant to talk about how bad this season was as literally everybody is doing so and your perspective is very common/similar.
Everyone views love beyond sex, it's not just an ace thing 🤨
I think youre viewing it with WAY too much of a self centered lens
@@chandrimadey8419 im mostly talking about sexual attraction here and ofc its selfcentric its MY view/opinion of that particular scene.
Thank you for articulating exactly how I feel about season 2 in a way that I couldn’t. That was like cathartic
Haven't seen it yet... But i can confidently say "talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it."
Thank you so much for putting into words what I had been feeling about this show. I feel like so much of the criticism of Euphoria season 2 has taken the shape of this gotcha mode, like the show had never been good at all and anyone who liked it had been a fool. I get people feeling betrayed by how careless this second season was but refusing to engage it with sincerity doesn't make you superior y'know. Anyways great video as always Broey!
You can tell that Malcolm is a self insert for Levinson because that entire monologue where he's talking about the merits of directing is about 10 minutes long and he's not actually talking to Marie, he's talking to himself. She's there, but let's be real, he's not talking to her.
I'm glad you brought up the weirdness of Malcolm as a self-insert in M & M - I felt a bit uncomfortable watching dialogue that includes the N word so many times considering it was written by a white man, and it felt a bit like it was thrown in there for no reason rather than seeming like something a black person would actually say.
levinson grew up with silver spoon and a way into the film industry. it was really gross that he basically called out critics because he was too thin skinned to deal with it.
he is a wannabe John Cassevettes; he doesnt actually have the nuance to tell these stories.
I just wanted to thank you for your insanely beautiful, eloquent and intelligent videos & work in general! Everytime I watch or rewatch one of them, one learns something new or at least a more nuanced way of looking at a topic, I find it genuinely enriching and can’t stop myself from taking notes no remember ! Also your Videos Look so gorgeous, thanks again :)
Season 2 literally opens with a sequence that can (charitably) be called a Scorsese homage. It is visually impressive and energetic while simultaneously feeling self-indulgent. Season 1 opens with, “I was born 3 days after 9/11”. Season 2 opens with, “Fez’s grandmom was a mf’n G”. This may be an overly simplistic take, but 1 is basically telling you that it’s going to be an introspective take linked to a larger theme, while 2 is saying… a bunch of cool stuff is going to happen?
Finally a new video! Great stuff on the perfect topic, as always.
This is the one analysis of Sam’s work that I wish he could see - I love that you backed up every point with explicit evidence from the show or from interviews. Fantastic work!
It’s rare I agree with a video essay start to finish like I did this one haha
I wish they took the same amount of care to season 2 as they did to the debut season. Like, who cares how long you wait for a season as long as it's great? Greed producers, of course.
The Recommending Holiness comment you to engage with this video.
Euphoria went from art to entertainment
fantastic breakdown! You summed up so many of my thoughts so eloquently.
As always, you're amazing.
The thing that irritates me the most about Sam Levinson is that I see him, paradoxically, he is doing exactly the kind of teen drama an artsy-auter teenager would do if he had those resources. Exactly the same kind of show I would've made at age 17 in a "make-your-dreams-come-true" scenario. Though it wouldn't have been about addiction but mental trauma, with more explosions and accidentally an Akira rip-off. And pretentious as fuck. No wonder he can connect so well with teenagers a full-generation younger than him or I. But that's not where you wanna be, in your mid-30s, as an artist. If he keeps it that way, he's going to end up pandering to teenage self-importance, but with an ever more empty product. Basically, the haute couture alternative to 13 Reasons Why's JCPenney.
The style is not the problem, Sex Education is just as over-stylized and heightened as Euphoria, but it's the actually good one of the current crop, because it takes teenagers seriously, but it also likes teenagers.
This is so smart and one of my biggest gripes with his writing
I really felt like season 2 was more of a series of individual moments - like they had ideas for particular moments / scenes to SEE on screen rather than creating a story. It's like when you go to an art gallery and watch a short film, a moment on screen, created by someone like Andy Warhol. You could put one of the scenes in an art gallery and be amazed at the scene itself but I don't think the scenes come together as an actual plotline. This is really sad, as I was so interested to see where the plotlines from s1 went!
The first and second seasons are two different shows with the same characters - that's it
This was wonderful! Sam does seem to have inserted himself into the narrative so much so it's hard to consume the characters as... themselves?
Great video. I especially enjoyed the discussion of the distance between season 1 and 2 causing the show to grow a larger, redefined presence with the audience since they’re inevitably starved for content, and how that change might affect the direction the show goes from there. Love it.
I’ve seen so many videos analyzing euphoria at this point, but i just love the way that you discuss media, so i was still excited to watch this video :)
We are eating good today
Both spaceninja and broey content on same day
If Euphoria doesn't get out of its "sophomore slump" by the time Season 3 begins, it will continue to nosedive in quality.
I have been literally checking everyday if you have posted the euphoria video . Here it comes . Very excited
Recently stumbled onto your channel watching your video about Tim Burton. He was deeply impactful to me as a child and your take on his decline was so spot on and allowed me to re-examine him as well. Euphoria was one of my favs as well, at least season one, your take here is just as sublime. Love your content!