Last month the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (DARE) released a statement criticising Zendaya’s Euphoria for glamorising drug use, sex and violence amongst teenagers, and Zendaya responded to the claims this week.
“Rather than further each parent’s desire to keep their children safe from the potentially horrific consequences of drug abuse and other high-risk behavious, HBO’s television drama, Euphoria, chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use, addiction, anonymous sex, violence and other destructive behaviours as common and widespread in today’s world,” DARE said in a statement shared by NBC.
The statement then went on: “It is unfortunate that HBO, social media, television program reviewers, and paid advertising have chosen to refer to the show as ‘groundbreaking’, rather than recognising the potential negative consequences on school-age children who today face unparalleled risks and mental health challenges.”
Zendaya responded to DARE’s statement against Euphoria with EW. “Our show is in no way a moral tale to teach people how to live their life or what they should be doing. If anything, the feeling behind Euphoria, or whatever we have always been trying to do with it, is to hopefully help people feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain,” she said. “And maybe feel like they’re not the only one going through or dealing with what they’re dealing with.”
It is quite evident that Zendaya’s Rue is important to her and others who have had to cope with addiction and loss, and the character meaning a lot to so many people has shaped where Zendaya wants her character to end up in the future.
“We can’t leave her here,” she says (and she has the power to say this, since she is also an executive producer of the show). “It’s really important that there’s light at the end of the tunnel for her, because I think she has a lot of beauty inside of her. Whether or not she quite sees that yet is her own thing.”
DARE hasn’t all been a ball of negativity however, they have said that they want to work with the people on Euphoria to help provide a positive message for kids. “We would welcome any opportunity for our team, including members of our high-school aged Youth Advocacy Board, to meet with individuals at HBO who are involved with producing Euphoria to present our concerns directly.”
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Ahead of the Season 2 premiere, Zendaya released a warning to viewers on Instagram: “I know I’ve said this before, but I do want to reiterate to everyone that Euphoria is for mature audiences. This season, maybe even more so than the last, is deeply emotional and deals with subject matter that can be triggering and difficult to watch.”
Season 2 of Euphoria is being released every Monday at 1pm on BINGE for us Aussies.
