The HBO TV show Euphoria has become popular amongst Gen-Z ers for discussing the hardships of teens in the 21st century and showing them they are not alone. Some of these hardships include drug addiction, body image issues, toxic relationships, over-sexualization of women, absent parents, struggles with sexuality, and struggles that transgender individuals go through. Euphoria is dealing with the subjects maturely to educate and relate to people. This article will contain spoilers.
Today I’ll be discussing the character Maddy, who is played by Alexa Demie in the show. Maddy is confident, extroverted, honest, and she is always surrounded by her friends. As a child, Maddy competed in beauty pageants and became known for her high levels of self-confidence. Her mother worked as an esthetician, and as she got older, she studied her mother’s rich clients and decided she wanted to be one of them herself. Her parents were in a strained, loveless relationship so she wanted to do what she could to avoid having a life like theirs.
In high school, Maddy entered a relationship with Nate Jacobs and used her mind to manipulate him into buying her expensive things by making him feel confident and powerful. Their relationship became very toxic. They took several breaks where Maddy would hook up with other men to make him jealous, but she and Nate would always end up back together. Maddy didn’t like his violent personality and she feared it would lead to him hurting her someday. It did when Nate strangled her and left dark bruises on her neck after an argument. The toxicity of their relationship shows when Maddy lies to the authorities about Nate hurting her to help him get out of a criminal charge.
In season 2, Nate and Maddy have broken up, but it is revealed that her best friend Cassie has been sleeping with him. At this point in the season, we don’t know what is to come of this yet, but Maddy is still in love with Nate even after everything he has put her through.
The makeup in Euphoria is iconic, and each character has a distinct look that represents their personality. For Maddy, her makeup is very polished and precise, with her sharp wings and rhinestones. She uses the rhinestones as armor, wearing more when she’s ready to pick a fight with someone. She color matches her eyeshadow to her outfits and tends to wear pink to look more innocent when around Nate. When you first see Maddy without makeup, it shows how broken she is because you see her without her protective armor.
Euphoria has done a good job at normalizing these hard issues. It has started a discussion and invoked controversy since it doesn’t show a sugar-coated version of these issues, but a real, raw portrayal. This allows the audience to connect with the show if they’ve been through similar issues, and it teaches people about the reality of the world we live in. Euphoria has created an outlet for Gen-Z and others to open a positive conversation about these very important topics.