HBO’s hit show tackles addiction, sex, and violence with raw honesty - Sandeep Louise says it is too much for developing teen minds but suggests parents need to be informed and ready to talk
Whether or not you’ve heard of Euphoria you need to know that season 3 is set to be released by HBO on April 12 and is due to make quite a splash. It’s not appropriate for teens but it is highly likely that your teenagers will have seen and heard a fair bit about it already.
Euphoria series 1 and 2 follow the journeys of a group of high-school students who struggle with drugs, love, social media and money as they come of age while trying to establish their identities.
Euphoria can be summarised as a visual representation of ‘sin gone wild’. But where there is sin, there is always room for redemption
The award-winning series has a raw, visually stylized, dramatic feel following 17-year-old addict Rue Bennett (played by much loved actress, Zendaya) who is navigating sobriety, trauma, and relationships in high school. Some themes that are explored in the series include teen addiction, sexuality, and mental health, often featuring explicit scenes, nudity, and violence. The series is known for its intense, character-driven storylines and is aimed at adults. You can view the parent’s guide for age rating with more detail here.
So, let’s look at some for and against arguments for this this show to help equip you for if/when Euphoria makes it into conversation at home.
The fight of good vs evil is heavily weaved throughout this show through the characters and their inner struggles
For: Darker realities can open conversations
With themes of teenage romances and growing addictions and navigating these big things in high school, in theory, Euphoria can provide a space for healthy dialogue in families. This could lead to your teenager disclosing witnessing these things in their schools or disclosing experiences these things themselves.
Art and media can often helpfully open dialogue. In previous seasons Euphoria has included storylines of sex tapes being leaked around high school and will include a theme of Only Fans and influencer content in the upcoming season. These online topics are common in high school and often, if your teenager isn’t directly involved or targeted, it’s possible or even probable that they will know someone around them who is. Exploring these topics in a safe environment can be a positive thing.
is this show just glorifying sin in a broken world to exploit and make money from broken people
For: Realities of sin leads to redemptive themes
Season 3 opens up life after high-school with a summary line of “A group of childhood friends wrestle with the virtue of faith, the possibility of redemption, and the problem of evil.”
Euphoria can be summarised as a visual representation of ‘sin gone wild’. But where there is sin, there is always room for redemption. This is what we see time and time again throughout the Bible.
we should not shelter our teenagers from a factual reality of the real world and the life of struggle that can come with it
With various teenage plotlines of substance abuse, suppressed sexual identities and a fight to get out of these things and find relief, the protagonist, Rue, has a turbulent journey of addiction where she finds herself in moments of being clean and free of her substance abuse but then there are unfortunate ways, she gets sucked back into her addiction and abuse.
The fight of good vs evil is heavily weaved throughout this show through the characters and their inner struggles with the evil far outweighing the good and the good showing up like little rays that shine only occasionally.
Against: The glamour of sin and sex sells
It’s no doubt Euphoria deserves the awards it has received; the cinematography and execution are brilliant. With a budget of $25 million per episode the quality reaches heights many TV shows can’t attain. With so much money to hand it begs the question: is this show just glorifying sin in a broken world to exploit and make money from broken people and is it a mirror to us when we consume this in large doses?
We’ve all heard the saying ‘sex sells’, well I would change this to ‘sin sells’ and popular shows on HBO known for their darker sexual or violent nature exist because of our own curiosity to unpack our own fallen nature visually. The proof of popularity with this show is in the pudding with the ratings – for better or for worse.
we must not fall prey to allowing teenagers to be exposed to realities before they are ready through pop culture and highly rated TV shows
Teenage brains are at a crucial and dynamic stage of development. Could these shows simply open them up to explore adult themes before they are ready to?
As parents, these are the questions we must be asking especially when we have teenagers who want to watch and engage in over-consuming programmes of a sadistically, sexually fuelled and violent nature.
Against: Are adult themes appropriate for teenagers?
Although we should not shelter our teenagers from a factual reality of the real world and the life of struggle that can come with it, we must not fall prey to allowing teenagers to be exposed to realities before they are ready through pop culture and highly rated TV shows.
We know from scripture that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesian 6: 12). These forces of evil can operate through forms of media. Therefore, what we consume should be monitored and as parents, it’s a duty we have to protect the minds and souls of those who can be more vulnerable such as developing teens.
this show should not be consumed by teenagers due to its explicit nature and adult themes
As parents, you know your teen best and you know what is most appropriate for them to consume. This is why I always advocate for healthy dialogues and engagement from parents into the pop culture of teenagers. This is because they WILL be consuming content about Euphoria, and this is due to the age of social media and the lack of barriers to age-appropriate content online. Being ahead of the curve is far better than being behind and catching up before it’s too late.
So …
It is my strong personal belief that this show should not be consumed by teenagers due to its explicit nature and adult themes. Parts of the story that involve a sexual nature or violent nature can be glamorised leading to under-developed minds of teens thinking this is okay and normal and becoming de-sensitised or introduced to topics too early.
Christian parents should be ready to at least engage and be aware of Euphoria because their teenagers certainly will be
At the same time, because this show is so successful and includes a cast of actors who have also been in PG rated shows, it’s likely that teenagers who follow the actors will naturally want to follow them into all the shows they are a part of. For example, Zendaya has started in Disney, moved into the Marvel Spider-verse with her now husband Tom Holland. Zendaya is one of the most known actors of this generation with the means to pull an audience and a crowd, particularly young teenage girls.
Christian parents should be ready to at least engage and be aware of Euphoria because their teenagers certainly will be.
The show Euphoria explores an eccentric reality of high school where the realities of sin and bad choices are heightened. Although as Christians, these may seem far-fetched to our lives, this can be a very raw reality lived out by teens around us. Therefore, we must be open to engage in conversations to protect and save our young people from premature exposure of these themes and topics in life.
