My Very Late Thoughts on Euphoria

 I love watching a show a full year after everyone is done talking about it. I’m going to blame it on the fact that it was airing during my final semester of my undergrad and I was “above” TV at that point. Dear god I’m annoying. 

Anyway, finished watching the show fairly recently and for the most part liked it. I think across the board performances are strong even if I think some people got left in the dust but I think that's the nature of these large ensemble shows. The thing I came away with is a feeling of optimism surprisingly. I have a weird feeling that this show is going to open up a lot of people to a different way of watching a show or movie, or at least I hope so.

The final sequence is a break of form and technique that tackles the abstract more so than any other moment in the show. We are given an EMOTIONAL conclusion but not an INTELLECTUAL one. Meaning that in our heart and our gut we have a feeling on what happened but our brain can’t quite decipher what the images in front of us actually mean, and for a big show to try and make that distinction makes me excited. I don’t think this is going to make zoomers everywhere go watch “Persona” or something but I do sincerely hope it makes them no longer watch bullshit like CinemaSins. 

I didn’t bring up Bergman by accident. I think that Bergman is Levinson’s primary influence here. Even more so than Scorsese at least on an emotional level. Euphoria’s largest question is a question of morality. What does it look like in this new age of information? Does it even exist? It never really gives an answer, nor do I think it needs to. Media can bring up a question and not answer it. In fact I think it’s better when they don’t. 

I guess I haven’t really talked about the contents of the show and I’ve more focused on the impact I think it can have. Maybe that’s a good thing or maybe it’s damming on the show. I’m not sure myself. Maybe I’ll just leave you with this Bergman quote “above all, I don't want to make merely intellectual films. I want audiences to feel, to sense my films.”