HBO’s Euphoria is already courting controversy after a supposedly graphic episode showing ‘close to 30 full-frontal penises’ landed the showrunners in hot water.
The Drake-produced drama that focuses on a group of teenagers has had many clutching their pearls, with one particular scene (even though there are also depictions of violence and drug use, with Zendaya’s character suffering an overdose) receiving more soapbox time than others.
The pilot episode contains one scene that appears jarring for many who have seen it, as one character ‘commits statutory rape’ with a 17-year-old trans girl. In it, viewers are confronted with an erect penis that, although a prosthetic and not the actual actor’s member, has outraged.
That comes alongside a locker room scene which, according to pundits, provides an episode that shows ‘close to 30 penises’ in the duration of screen time.
We know, a bunch of penises! Something half the world’s population has! Won’t somebody think of the children!
Showrunners have denied it’s sensational for sensational’s sake, as HBO’s programming president Casey Bloys said the show was based on creator Sam Levinson’s own experiences.
He said: ‘It may seem boundary-pushing, and the idea of putting them on TV may be, but somebody lived them.’
He added to the Hollywood Reporter: ‘We’re not trying to put out a Gossip Girl.’
It came after Tim Winter, president of the Parent Television Council suggested the content was too adult for the intended teenage audience.
He said in a statement: ‘HBO, with its new high school centred show Euphoria, appears to be overtly, intentionally, marketing extremely graphic adult content — sex, violence, profanity and drug use — to teens and preteens.’
He should be happy the original cut didn’t make it on screen, as, according to Casey, the locker room scene (an homage to cult film Carrie, apparently) included ‘like, 80 more’ male appendages.
But Sam himself knew he was going to be receiving some outrage, as he noted: ‘There are going to be parents who are going to be totally fucking freaked out.’
The reviews are slowly trickling in, though, and it seems the critics are fans, if for no other reason than intrigue. Despite the graphic scenes, it’s been hailed a ‘2019 Skins’ by Variety.
While the reporter admits it’s ‘not an easy watch, nor a particularly pleasant one’ the show has an ‘undeniable pull’ that means none of us are going to be able to ignore it.
Euphoria premiers 16 June on HBO in the US and will air on Sky Atlantic in the UK.
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