huh so sam levinson really created jules vaughn only to do her so bad in season 2
i mean, i know that s2 is far by now but i've been thinking about it and honestly, sam levinson does not deserve a character like that. hunter really got her, and all levinson did after the sea blob episode is to say "ha fuck that". like pls, for the love of god, stop this man asap.
"i think I've framed my entire womanhood around men, when in reality I'm no longer interested in men […] what men want is so boring and simple and not creative"
Selected Letters of Martha Gellhorn, Martha Gellhorn // Daydreamin', Lupe Fiasco // David’s lost psalm, Richard Jackson // A Breath of Life, Clarice Lispector // The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson // Unknown // Unknown // Euphoria S2 (2022) // Clarice Lispector // Before Sunset (2004) // Anna Quindlen // Yiwei Chai // Unknown // As conciousness is harnessed to flesh, Susan Sontag // The End of the World as We Know It Scenes from a Life, Robert Goolrick // Crush, Richard Siken // Oh No!, Marina and the Diamonds // Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) // Report to Greco, Nikos Kazantzakis // Heaven, Mieko Kawakami // Intangible, Madisen Kuhn // Heaven, Mieko Kawakami // Unknown // Sputnik Sweetheart, Haruki Murakami // Euphoria - Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob (2021) // Poetry as Survival, Gregory Orr // Girls Against God, Florence + the Machine // The Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa // White Nights, Fyodor Dostoevsky // Florence Welch
Some of the most profound relationships I’ve ever had have been with people I’ve never met. I should have known I was setting myself up. Or maybe I did know. Maybe that’s like what I’m actually attracted to. Maybe that’s, like, the appeal. The letdown. The fact that, like, none of its real. And it’s all a fantasy.
FUCK ANYONE WHO'S NOT A SEA BLOB (2021)
dir. Sam Levinson and co-writer Hunter Schafer
hey ! i was wondering if you can upload any pages in the euphoria fashion related to ‘Fuck Anyone Whos Not a Sea Blob’ ? (if not then thank you anyways)
(the ocean - against me! // pool - paramore, the shape of water - guillermo del toro // the foundations of decay - my chemical romance // surf song- sleater-kinney // fuck anyone who's not a sea blob - euphoria // ocean song - bikini kill // transgender dysphoria blues - against me!)
This is one of the best TV show specials ever made. Without a doubt one of my favorites. It's so special to me. It's sad, moving, sensitive, raw and heartfelt in a beautiful way. I can relate to Jules in so many ways when she talks about wanting to be like the ocean. Or when she talks about womanhood and femininity. The way she relates not only to others but to herself, the weight of self-criticism. This especial always make me think about life and how I want become for myself.
I know this is probably a very ‘online take’ and a sign that I should be more aware of my parasocial relationships to creators but…
Hunter Schafer wrote an entire hour-long episode about Jules Vaughn’s complicated relationship to femininity — about how being limited by the gender binary and feeling forced to perform stereotypical femininity to such an extreme degree to feel valid as a trans woman is ‘so uncreative, unfulfilling and uninspiring’. It was genuinely one of my favourite TV experiences and I have loved her art ever since. ‘Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob’ was incredibly poignant for me.
To have her openly show support for transmedicalist rhetoric — blaming enbies for the state of trans-affirmative health and social care, after we’ve had to watch countless transmed right-wing grifters happily nod along to whatever ‘transphobic white man of the month’ is saying — is really fucking disheartening.
This narrative that trans and/or non-binary identity is inherently ‘disordered’ via the validation of the existence of gender dysphoria is so incredibly harmful. This flavour of transphobia and ableism not only hurts all trans and/or non-binary people, but it hurts those the most who are caught in the crossfire: disabled, neurodivergent and POC trans/nb people, who face even more barriers than usual to trans-affirmative care.
The pathologisation of trans identity — or the ‘blame’ of trans identity being placed on an already pre-existing disorder — already leads to stigma, bigotry, bullying, and the deprivation of the means to socially/medically transition. Enbies ‘playing around with what it means to be trans’ does not. Your respectability politics will not make transphobes take you seriously; they do not want you to exist, ‘respectable’ or not.
Seeing somebody whose voice is so valued by virtue of their privilege not only show support for transmedicalism, but for the incredibly outlandish idea that non-binary people are to blame for transphobic policy change, is hurtful. It’s not just misguided — it inspires violence and degradation against trans and non-binary people.
I’m so tired and disillusioned by caring for artists. I know you’re supposed to ‘separate the art from the artist’, but this is a direct contradiction of everything Hunter’s art used to stand for and I cannot tolerate it.
if you need any proof that Euphoria S2 is such a downgrade from S1, just like, look at how people TALK about Euphoria nowadays. what was considered high-concept TV - as one of the few teen dramas to tackle its topics with empathy and nuance - has become lauded as dumb ratings-chasing borderline High-School-gossip-tier petty character conflicts and been consistently compared to RIVERDALE of all things.
they dropped two whole ass love triangles into the plot, removed any self-awareness from Jules (as if “Fuck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob” wasn’t entirely dedicated to showing how self critical she is (among other things S2 threw out. looking at “i’m not longer interested in men”.)), turned Cassie's character flaw into a parody of itself (from struggling with how men perceive her and being unsure of what she is outside of that, to simping for the first guy who has sex with her and becoming obsessed with the idea of being his fetish object), and just COMPLETELY ignored Kat (her story was all about her insecurities trying to find power and self-love through a patriarchy that teaches girls a narrow understanding of what power and self-love look like (objectification). only for her to then subvert those ideals by wielding her sexuality as a means to control her oppressors, taking until the finale to realize that this role is not authentic to who she is, and would still center her identity around a patriarchal system that now would just serve to isolate her from a true love (Ethan). then her story became “she doesn’t like Ethan because he isn’t manly enough” LIKE HUH?)
literally the only two characters with consistent development that isn’t flanderized for the sake of drama are Rue and Maddie. Rue’s addiction and how it impacts herself and her relationships with the people around her is still the much deserved focal point, and Maddie subverting the ideals of the “popular girl” and slowly becoming aware of how those ideals have shaped her toxic relationship with Nate actually come to a head .
and if you look at which characters the audience has responded to the most - yeah no shit it’s them.
Lexi has some interesting stuff going on too fwiw (and a fandom to boot), i just couldn’t get into it for a number of personal reasons. and that should be fine! Euphoria was once a show about so many different stories yet still managed to carry the same thought and care throughout ALL of them.
now we have like, 2 or 3 to look forward to? while the rest are the mangled remains of what they once were.