In a piece for, , she wrote, As a transgender teenager who grew up in North Carolina, navigating bathrooms on my own was an extremely difficult journey, particularly at public school. 26. Your email address will not be published. And so far, Ive watched the show muck up just about every reality into tropes that feed Republican anger and fear. In an early episode, Che introduces themself via their podcast as "queer, nonbinary, Mexican, Irish diva, representing everyone else outside these two boring genders," before pressing a button . The male queer representation does not fare much better. HBO's brand new drama, Euphoria, gives us an unflinching look at the highs and lows of substance abuse, depression, self-harm, and accepting our own sexuality, along with . I truly believe that the thing that makes cis people love and admire trans people so much is the fact that we understand something really deep about ourselves, and thats actually really special. People find it shocking and vulgar but simultaneously intriguing and even applicable to their own lives, especially regarding main characters being openly queer, something that not a lot of TV shows have. As Euphorias second season comes to a close, it only seems fitting to comment on the new season. A sensory overload. UB and UPF researchers analyzed the portrayal of LGTBQ+ characters in the TV series Euphoria. Jules Vaughn is a main character in the HBO series. Representation is more than surface-level, and its time for it to be treated as such. The series stars Zendaya and Hunter Schafer as Rue and Jules, respectively: lonely teens-cum-star-crossed-lovers whose attraction to each other feels like a constant game of catch-up. Had an exchange on twitter with someone who said, Im not even trying to be a woman, in that sense. While there is a demand for a more racially diverse cast, it means that there needs to be a racially diverse writers room. Levinson does not give the character fair time to process, grieve or truly react. representation has an elemental power. A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon, By submitting your email, you agree to our, Euphorias trans consultant on why the series tells authentic trans stories, Sign up for the The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". That scene was really hard to watch for me because Ive been in a similar situation and it brought up some stuff that I wasnt quite ready to deal with. Yes. Doncha love how theyre just abandoning the TWAW thing? In one of the best scenes from last night's episode of Euphoria, Jules the trans high school student played by breakout actress Hunter Schafer drunkenly floats in a pool while reciting lines from Act 2, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to her recovering drug addict girlfriend, Rue. This is mostly rooted in the shows notable lack of labels. Also, she gives me a lot of great outfit ideas, so thats always a plus., Seventeen-year-old viewer Zoe shares that although she likes Jules, the audience should remember Jules comes from a privileged background. Borderlands 3. Like, Season 1, she was promiscuous, the men she's had sex with presented as either gay or bi which shows the writers don't see Jules as a woman, and then they keep insisting that she's confused about her gender, a scare tactic TERFS often use against trans people. in terms of recent-ish shows, Pose and Euphoria have great Trans representation. Marginalized people want stories that represent the length and breadth of their experiences, good and bad. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. In addition to this, the shows characters of color and LGBTQ+ characters suffer from inadequate writing from the shows creator and sole writer Sam Levinson. Euphoria Resolved Season 1's Biggests Cliffhanger In The Most Underwhelming Fashion. But its not precisely the new hue thats captivating viewers. All rights reserved. Jules conflicts in the first season revolve around her romantic relationships with Rue, the violent jock Nate Jacobs, and Tyler, a fake online persona that Nate created to catfish her. 2023 IndieWire Media, LLC. Just a reminder before tonights premiere, that Euphoria is for mature audiences, wrote Zendaya. B. Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity. Shes clearly a positive force of energy for Rue. Adding, Having a trans character being portrayed this positively in such a popular television series makes me feel so incredible. Your email address will not be published. Played by newcomer Hunter Schafer in what will surely become a career-launching performance, everyone on the show the daddy, the walking embodiment of toxic masculinity, the tomboy protagonist, her confident femme rival wants Jules. She also was able to transition at 13 and have a safe place to live, and this is not the reality for many trans teens, including myself.. Despite her struggle to find loving connections and the harassment shes faced, Jules is shown to remain a big-hearted and kind character. Lets hope Euphoria moves forward to highlight how the new generations anticipate and welcome trans individuals into society. And yet, season two has shown that, maybe, Sam Levinson should not be the sole writer of this show. For instance, theres an intimate scene between [Quintessas character, Anna] and [Schafers character, Jules] in episode 7 that was a collaboration with the intimacy coordinator. LGBTQ+ representation in Euphoria. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. I mean, it took everything: teaching people how to use they/them/their pronouns as a singular; making sure people understood that trans women are women; if someone asks you where to go to the bathroom, this is where you go. Mirror, mirror on the wall. If we wish to see good representation on "Euphoria," we first need Levinson to give his pen to people of color, LGBTQ+ people and fat people. It has a very negative perception of the LGBT community. Editorial: NYU lifted its mask mandate, but now isnt the time to be idle. The last thing we need is more defining of these individuals in violence, victimhood and anger. Despite the popularity of Euphoria, the HBO show suffers for its lack of non-exploitative representation. The only Black male lead character in the first season, McKay (Algee Smith), is a football prodigy already an extension of the. We wanted to make sure that everybody knew the writers and were showing and doing what they would and would not want to do. Kira. Teen Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. While television shows Orange Is the New Black (OITNB) and Transparent have made headlines for their inclusion of trans performers and their debatably authentic takes on trans experiences, Euphoria signals a new era in trans representation, one that is defined by a "cool" trans aesthetic that epitomizes multiplatform television's investment in trans as an edgy brand marker. The show stars fan favorite Zendaya and boasts an ensemble cast of other talented actors. Yes. Editorial: Do no harm, Grossman. Euphoria star Hunter Schafer, who plays Jules, expressed her desire to create a "Marvel-level" film about two trans girls falling in love. Editorial: The New York Times article on Maitland Jones was incomplete. If we wish to see good representation on Euphoria, we first need Levinson to give his pen to people of color, LGBTQ+ people and fat people. Were so much more complex than just one identity., Rue finds out that Jules is trans in the third episode of. RELATED: 10 Best Quotes From Euphoria Season 2. Because of these little hints, viewers wondered, Is Jules from Euphoria trans?. Since Hunter Schafer stepped into the spotlight playing Jules in the HBO hit Euphoria, her star power has skyrocketed. 10. Social media and sex and where the two intersect are another . All too frequently, trans women are made the sexual object of cis mens desire, and every episode of Euphoria is written and directed by Sam Levinson, a cis man. I also take a look at themes of sexual violence and the objectification of the female body by examining characters like Cassie, Maddy, Kat, and Jules. hbo. Schafer has also spoken up about the difficulty of coming out in high school as a trans teen. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. And don't even get me started on how gay and bi men are shown on the series: the closeted gay dad who's depicted as a sexual predator, the psychopatic bissexual son who's overly aggressive and abuses his girlfriends to validate his need to be seen as straight. As its first season comes to a close, HBOs Euphoria is posed to become the most provocative series on television for highlighting the tumultuous nature of being a teen in a post-Recession America. For her activism against the HB2, Teen Vogue listed Schafer on its "21 Under 21" list in 2017. And the thing is, like the self-harming isnt about Jules being trans, except that of course it is. And one million people are watching. In between seasons one and two, Euphoria put out two special episodes, one focusing on Jules and one on Rue. This may contribute to why the highly anticipated second season is falling flat for many of the viewers because Levinson writes stories empowered by experiences he does not hold. That makes Euphoria the first trans show to employ a straight male gaze, the term coined by Laura Mulvey and popularized by Soloway. And it was his one line that the showrunner admits to having re-written multiple times over , that really made an impact. So we had to explain that it would be much more authentic to the world that were representing to not do that. Curious, adventurous, and carefree, Jules soon catches the eye of Rue Bennett as they start their junior year. Women and trans women are more than just victims. Something went wrong. Men are so quick to profess their love for cis women. Who thinks that watching 16,000 ultra-violent gun murders / simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence (American Psychiatric Association, 1998) has fed the fires of our current situation? Its bonkers because its a 30-second flash of scenes, but it took an hour and a half to do and a lot more time for us to really negotiate. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". She goes on to say that now shes no longer interested in men, yet with this new season, we see a budding relationship between her and Elliot, a new boy at their school. I was really happy to be able to work in a context like Euphoria where people were so very ready and willing to do it right and well. The same could be said if they often play into the stereotypes of trans guys being "cute . Your email address will not be published. Its just hard to deal with stuff like that for me., Perhaps the relationship between Jules and Rue, in whatever iteration, is the most compelling aspect of the show. If you want to objectify me, objectify me. Filmmaker Sam Levinson never does things the easy way, and that's what made the debut season of his HBO series Euphoria so distinctive . has been renewed for a third season, with Schafer set to reprise her breakout role. One of them was Cal Jacobs, Nates father, who didnt know she was a minor. Whether shes biking giddily through an orchard or reciting Shakespeare in a pool without smudging her killer eye make-up, its hard not to fall in love with her. A . Jules is absolutely one of my favorite characters on television right now, Clementine Narcisse, a 15-year-old trans girl says, before the show started I was worried because a lot of transgender characters in the media are represented horribly, but I was blown away by her portrayal.. However, HBO must not only involve a more diverse cast, but also writers who can bring relevant perspectives to the table. What many find compelling about Jules is that the show does not make her gender identity the entirety of who she is but merely just one small piece of her identity. As Schafer pointed out to Variety, There need to be more roles where trans people arent just dealing with being trans; theyre being trans while dealing with other issues. Following in the footsteps of shows like Riverdale and 13 Reasons Why, the Zendaya . And I get it its dramatic and interesting and theres a lot of great TV drama there, but come on, catch up. Hyper-masculinity culture for Black men and the conversation around that being needed to be discussed on a larger scale and how Levinson failed to do so/threw away the opportunity to do so by focusing on Cassies perspective. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. But the difference with Hunter is that she was already an activist. But am I saying Levinson is homophobic and transphobic? Its because the writers listened to trans people. Photograph: Alexis Desaulniers-Lea. Jules transition journey isnt seen in the series, but her personal development and relationships are a fascinating part of the show. The trans character in The Crying Game is problematic in the extreme, and is played by a cis man, to boot. The Yakuza series has multiple trans characters, mainly women. So, is Jules in Euphoria trans, and is it ever clearly stated in the series? Here, I'm not suggesting that this is, in itself, a bad thing; ally-ship true ally-ship, the kind by those who use their visibility and power to support marginalized communitiesis important. Free-spirited and brave, Jules Vaughn is one of the most popular characters in the gritty teen show Euphoria. His role as the only Black male lead is replaced by Elliot (Dominic Fike) in season two a drug addict, another racist stereotype. New viewers wondered early on Is Jules trans in. Trans representation in Euphoria . Trans people dont experience mental illness more than other people because were trans. I was going through your Instagram feed and noticed a post from early July where you used the phrase contact high while referring to Euphoria. The show has gotten flak for the mature plotlines, but we highly recommend that you give it a watch for its eye-catching fashion, LGBT representation, and compelling twists. IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Euphoria has stepped into problematic territory with its portrayal of Rue, Jules, Nate and Cal. Something that really kind of struck me about Jules character is the fact that shes not, especially as the season progresses, locked into a heterosexual paradigm. That was the real joy of working on it. Throughout the first season, McKay is treated as nothing but a plot device to drive forward Cassies story. Please log in to add your commentNeed an account? Warning: spoilers abound! If its the closest thing to being desiredIll take that. Amid gut-wrenching scenes of overdoses and withdrawals is a take on sexual orientation and power dynamics that becomes more questionable as the episodes go on. That was very much Sam Levinson listening to Hunter Schafer and me just gleefully goading him on like, Yes, please say this! It feels authentic because it is authentic its something that is really there and really of this moment because it was brought to the table by an actual person. Raised in Raleigh, N.C., she was a plaintiff in the American Civil Liberties Union's 2016 lawsuit against . In a piece for i-D, she wrote, As a transgender teenager who grew up in North Carolina, navigating bathrooms on my own was an extremely difficult journey, particularly at public school. Read on to get the full details on this fan-favorites backstory and find out when her gender identity is revealed. From its first episode, the HBO original series Euphoria has drawn both excitement and controversy, debates sparking over its choices regarding explicit content and its portrayal of drug use. I would also say it's fine if the author isn't transmasc and is simply writing it at the request of a trans individual. Holidays This thread is about good trans representation. program slammed Euphoria to TMZ, with a representative saying, " Euphoria chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use, addictionand other destructive behaviors as common and widespread in today's world.". As the series endlessly compelling protagonist, Rue narrates the events of the show in a sleepy voiceover that is equal parts profoundly intimate and archly blas. Hunter Schafer plays Jules and is trans in real life. The May Test is intended to be stringent in the hopes that it inspires and produces more original, authentic, and positive representations of transgender people. In the first season, we see her trying to navigate her womanhood and problems with intimacy. 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Nyu lifted its mask mandate, but come on, catch up of them was Cal Jacobs Nates. Mask mandate, but come on, catch up and theres a lot of great TV drama there but! With its portrayal of LGTBQ+ characters in the shows notable lack of non-exploitative representation on get... The self-harming isnt about Jules being trans, and carefree, Jules soon catches the eye Rue. And theres a lot of great TV drama there, but come,!, adventurous, and carefree, Jules is trans in real life soon catches the eye of Rue Bennett Jules! A portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of the popular!, with Schafer set to reprise her breakout role explain that it would be much more authentic to the that... Consent for the cookies in the series Resolved season 1 & # x27 ; s lawsuit... Could be said if they often play into the spotlight playing Jules in the HBO hit Euphoria, the coined!
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