The anti-drug education group known as D.A.R.E., released a statement late last month to warn against the dark teen drama, now in its second season and recently renewed for a third, that has “misguidedly and erroneously” depicted high school drug use.
“Rather than further each parent’s desire to keep their children safe from the potentially horrific consequences of drug abuse and other high-risk behavior, HBO’s television drama, ‘Euphoria,’ chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use, addiction, anonymous sex, violence, and other destructive behaviors as common and widespread in today’s world,”
They continued, “It is unfortunate that HBO, social media, television program reviewers, and paid advertising have chosen to refer to the show as ‘groundbreaking,’ rather than recognizing the potential negative consequences on school-age children who today face unparalleled risks and mental health challenges.”
Since then, Zendaya, 25, has since come out to defend the show in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly stating,
“Euphoria” isn’t a “moral tale. 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, and maybe feel like they’re not the only one going through or dealing with what they’re dealing with.”
There is no question that series is a bit racy in its nature, but some would argue that these kind of stories need to be told in order to shine light on the problem at hand.
Even Zendaya's Co-stars Nika King chimed in.
King, who plays the mom Leslie Bennett to Zendaya’s Rue, agrees the subject matter “[is] definitely not pretty” in her conversation with Entertainment Weekly, but that showrunner Sam Levinson thought it was important to explore and “be seen.”
“We need to see this Bennett family really go through it because that’s the only way the audience and people who are also going through this in real life understand. And they’re like, ‘Wow, this is authentic. This is real,’ ”
Said King.
New episodes of Euphoria air on HBO and HBO Max every Sunday at 9 p.m. EST