"Euphoria" fails to depict high school
With many shows attempting to depict the high school experience, HBO’s “Euphoria” should be another relatable television series. However, “Euphoria” is an incredibly graphic and dark show that has captivated a large audience. This may adhere to HBO’s often gritty and extremely sexual content, but the television drama is notable for its setting. While hard to see through the sex and drugs, “Euphoria” is technically about kids at school. Despite a premise that revolves around students, “Euphoria” is in no way an accurate representation of high school. It is important to highlight that many themes in “Euphoria” are present at Samo. The ubiquitous use of drugs is only too obvious. Strolling through campus, it’s not uncommon to find a used condom inexplicably located in the middle of the basketball courts. However, this does not mean that most students are tripping on acid, snorting cocaine, having sex with college students or getting abortions, as “Euphoria” may suggest. While these things could plausibly occur at Samo, the lives of the majority of students do not resemble the dramatic and often traumatic series of events on the show. Adriana Gypes (’21) compared Samo to the high school in “Euphoria”, specifically highlighting the surrealism of “Euphoria”. “Euphoria’s version of high school is what the students in our high school wish it was, when in reality, [Samo is] just a watered down version,” Gypes said. Gypes points out that occasionally student’s lives may be similar to events in the show, but because “Euphoria” is very intense, it does not accurately depict life at school. Students may wish our school was like “Euphoria” because it is much less mundane than normal school life. Cole Renshaw (’20) noted how Euphoria’s depiction of high school is related to its position as a television series. “Because it’s a TV show, everything is very dramatized. Even if it is partially like high school, so much of it is inflated so it can be engaging,” Renshaw said. Renshaw sums up the idea that because it is television, the show can never really depict high school. Euphoria may capture some relatable moments, however, it fails to depict much of the routineness of students’ daily lives.