Unpopular opinion, but R-rated “teen dramas” like Euphoria should just be set in college.
The characters don’t look or act like teenagers. They’re played by adults, doing adult things—clubbing, drinking, hooking up, and having way too mature relationships for high school. Yeah, some teens experiment, but not like this. If you removed the scenes at school, everyone would assume these characters are 21-25.
Character ages should make sense narratively. Nickelodeon and Disney shows like iCarly or Victorious worked because they were actually about teens, played by teens, written for teens. Even Spider-Man makes sense as a teenage story—he’s a kid juggling real responsibility. But with Euphoria, it feels like they just made everyone “15” for shock value.
If your show’s rated TV-MA and aimed at adults, just make the characters adults. It’d be more believable and way less creepy.
A lot of people do that in high-school …
I didn’t say kids didn’t do these things. I said Hollywood shouldn’t romanticise it or glorify it.
Do you think it’s okay for minors to do drugs, drink and have sex with adults? Do you think? Parents are “villains” for justifiably saying “your a minor this isn’t ok”?
Portraiting things that actually happen isn’t romanticizing or glorifying. It doesn’t really matter if you think it’s okay. A lot of the best shows and movies are about stuff that isn’t okay.