This year’s ATX Television Festival opened with a screening of the new HBO series Euphoria complete with a red carpet lined with a plethora of stars in attendance for the fest. Though we didn’t get to speak with most of the Euphoria cast, we did chat with many others throughout the weekend, so stay tuned for more festival posts about that coming soon!
Vanity Fair and HBO presented the opening night red carpet and screening event with Vanity Fair‘s TV critic Sonia Saraiya hosting the post screening Q&A. She was joined on stage by series creator Sam Levinson and cast members Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Barbie Ferreira and Eric Dane, who looks quite different from his days playing McSteamy on Grey’s Anatomy.
The Q&A was filled with questions on heavy topics such as technology, sex, drugs, pain and other struggles today’s teens face.
Throughout the evening, it became apparent that Euphoria is very personal to Levinson. During the discussion he explained to the audience that the series conveys many of his own real-life experiences with Zendaya representing himself as a teen growing up with a drug addiction.
Here’s why you may or may not want to watch Euphoria.
I have to admit, the show was a bit too graphic for my taste and it did feel a tad awkward at times, especially with the cast sitting directly in front of me. Being that I’m just coming out of my teen years, I don’t feel as if this show is a good depiction of what high school is like or even what high schoolers experience. Then again, I’ve never been an addict.
To be honest, some of the more explicit scenes were enough to rival something that you might see on an adult website such as collegeporn.xxx. That being said, the way the show depicts the complexities of sex and sexuality feels highly authentic and therefore this series will undoubtedly appeal to its intended audience.
The trailers for the series are a bit deceptive considering how raunchy the show actually is. When I sat down for the screening of the pilot, I was expecting more of an ABC Family/ Freeform type of show that would allude to specific behaviors and happenings but not actually show them.
If you or your kids are planning to watch simply because you’re a fan of Zendaya and her previous work, I’d say Euphoria isn’t the show to watch.
However, if you want to see Zendaya break out from her more youthful roles and embrace a very raw and more mature one then Euphoria is definitely the show for you.
