I just wanna state that Sam Levinson is not the cinematographer of any of his shows he is the director and writer so he doesn’t do the lighting and shot but he does have final say but the person who composed the light shots and angels that we enjoy from these show are Marcell Rev. He is the one who deserve the credit for the cinematography not Sam Levinson.
• very weird to me how he always chooses teenage girls to be his muse esp when exploring these “taboo topics” • it’s wild to me how Rue is the protagonist but her black family takes the backseat (Cal got way too much screen time in s2 imo)
Right??? Cal became a main character & Gia and Rue’s mom were paid dust. Not a good look, considering there are no other black main characters at all, since McKay left/was written out
especially when the characters have so much potential! they are criminally underused and underdeveloped. best scenes in the show were ones where rue was interacting with them imo. but even more than that, they should be developed independently as well. you're so right when you say cal got too much screen time because...why did he? who genuinely cared about him or his redemption story when he's a disgusting character? should've gave cal like 2 scenes and the rest to gia and rue's mother
I hate how Sam Levinson sexualise teenagers, and recently did it again in "The Idol", after showing the underage female character naked. I don't care that she's played by a 27 year old actress, it's still icky, and the character could have easily been in her early 20s.
No because as a black autistic and physically disabled person, I hated how Sam Levinson would put the r slur in both Euphoria and The Idol numerous times, made me wanna throw my remote at the tv
22:30 This is so true, he can only write Rue bc he went through substance abuse. The only time we get a good storytelling from Euphoria is when he lets an actor/actress literally write their own plotline (like Jules special episode, or Kat's storyline going to shit (it already was shit tbh but got worst) when Barbie disagreed with her character's writing)
The fact that the idol was originally going to be more female point of view and then it’s completely rewrote it to show more nude scenes like I watched 3 episodes of it I think Lilly character was interesting her storyline of her figuring out who she is as a pop star and dealing with her mom death I wish we got more of that sorry for the long comment 😂😭
I really dislike how many shows there are about high school. More often than not they’re written by people who didn’t even have a good experience there, so they’re just writing out their grievances or situating a fantasy about what they think was going on with the “popular” kids. I don’t know why they can’t just set these shows in college instead, everyone’s legal age and there is a lot more freedom in that environment.
One of the most disturbing moments is when Maddy was being groomed by a grown man at 14 and Rue said she was “ in control “. She was being preyed on by a grown man. As someone who was preyed on by my mom’s boyfriend at 15, no teenager can control an adult. He was in control. Every time I didn’t do what he said, he would try to get me in trouble with my mother. He even masturbated in front of me and he touched me inappropriately when I was sleeping and even called me into his room and touched me. Predators need to held accountable for preying on children. AlsoI hated when they gloried drugs as well. I have a younger brother who was on drugs and had a drug overdose and seeing Rue go off on her mother and sister and have a drug overdose made me break down. 😓
I am so sorry that happened to you. You are really strong to make it through that. your points completely makes sense and I hope you are doing well today.❤
it was in maddy’s pov so that’s why rue said it. it’s not right but it’s honestly realistic for children to feel powerful because they attracted a grown adult. look at how many young boys get excited when grown men tw3rk on them etc but i’m so sorry that happened to you
Sam levingson should just stick to directing, he can get good shots and really invoke emotion in many scenes. The writing is trash-dumpster fire, he needs to either hire someone with talent to write, or go back to the drawing board. Euphoria was sheer luck and the marketing of Zendaya really helped him, without her acting the show may have tanked early on.
Such a good point. She gave that show legitimacy when it could’ve been another cringe teen or creepy teen show. She was so grateful to him for the opportunity, but he got so much out of her as well.
it was also his personal tie to the show, rue explores his addiction with drugs and a lot of her narration is some of the stuff he went through, atleast all the stuff he said in the press
OK, I'm not trying to over step. But as someone who is neurodivergent I'd like to say that it's a lot more broad than people think. When people hear the term they immediately think of ADHD, Autism and Learning disabilities. But it's a lot more braod it also includes personallity disorders, tic disorders, OCD and disabilities like Epilepsy. I'm not trying to say you have to identify with the label if you don't resonate with it. I've just noticed that a lot of people hear the term neurodivergent and immediately think Autism. When a lot more disorders fall under the neurodivergent umbrella.
Just wanna say, as an autistic person, I really appreciate your section on that subject, it felt really refreshing and respectful. And yes 99.9% of us definitely don't like neurotypical people using the r-word! Many of us don't even 'reclaim' it ourselves. It's complicated because many people (especially people who aren't white cis men) don't get diagnosed until later in life, and can go for years not knowing they're neurodivergent, and some people can't get a diagnosis for various reasons, so I'm not here to gatekeep. I didn't get diagnosed until adulthood. But on the other hand there's been a trend for a while of people really watering down autism into some kind of uwu quirky personality type, or saying "everyone's a little bit autistic" when really it's a serious neurodevelopmental condition which generally makes life extremely difficult for those who have it. People need to understand that yes, a lot of neurodivergent traits are things most people can relate to in some way BUT the difference is we have them 50x as intense and all at once all the time. It's a bit like a person who has severe clinical depression vs. someone who feels a bit down sometimes, or someone with a severe anxiety disorder vs. someone who feels kind of anxious before a big event. So I don't want to discourage people from learning about autism, ADHD and the range of various conditions which come under 'neurodivergent' and possibly finding out there's an explanation for struggles they've been having, but I do wish there was more accurate information out there. It's not something we 'identify' with to feel different or special, these are really serious conditions which affect our lives. Personally I do have a positive sense of identity in being autistic. It's not an illness or disease and it does have positive aspects, but at the same time it has caused me to have profoundly negative experiences in the world, it's something which is woven into the fabric of every day, I'm severely traumatised, and unable to do many things I would like to do - and I have relatively low support needs. It's great that people are reflecting on themselves, and more neurodivergent people are getting diagnosed and getting help, but this "ohh you have totally autistic vibes~" stuff is very frustrating.
I hated when Jules cheated. I could’ve loved a poly relationship, but there was no three way consent. It made me so uncomfortable how Jules became so s*xualized, I had forward in skip some of her scenes. :(
I also feel like it ruined her character too. When Rue first started hanging out with Elliot I couldn’t stand the fact that Jules accused her of cheating without any proof, it just made her super hypocritical too. Such a waste of a good a character.
To be honest I just overall don’t think his writing is all that good. I think many characters he creates are bland and truly are only ever saved by the actors who play them. I also think he uses way too much “edgy” wording in his scripts. Like as a lesbian myself for example I don’t understand why he feels the need to use gay as an insult and also use the f word. It just makes me a little uncomfortable. Also I just don’t think aesthetics are enough. Most of the time it’s secondary. If the script is bad then clothes and sets don’t mean anything. Let’s not even get started on how he treats female characters. It’s horrendous.
Totally agree. When I watched euphoria I wasn’t able to connect to most of the characters and found them to be very flat, just played by good actors. I always felt like I was just missing something because everyone hyped up the show and the characters so much.
I think to me the characters in euphoria were interesting because they extremely flawed but I also do think the actors is the main reason I feel that way
I think some of the characters and plot lines have potential, but then things just fall apart or never follow through. Kats story was I think very compelling and interesting, plus sized people are not really present in many young adult shows. I even think that while I didn’t like it, the camming thing might’ve worked had they played around with a “dichotomy” thing - Kat going from one extreme to the other and experiencing the negatives of both: being insecure and not in tune with her sexuality at all - to full sexualisation and exploitation. Then showing that the best position is a middle; where sexuality can be empowering but shouldn’t be exploited. Especially with only fans culture it could be compelling. However, it just fell flat and didn’t really get explored all that much in the end and ended up with a “porn is good” bullshit thing. Even with Maddy, that line of “she was actually the one in power” that was describing her being with an older man at a young age - I legit (while I was watching; obvs not now) thought that perhaps it was supposed to be telling a story about how young women don’t believe that they’re being taken advantage of at the time; and will believe things like this - but ultimately it is being taken advantage of. Nope! He actually wrote that line thinking it was a good background detail. Telling maddy’s story around how she thinks she’s in control of these situations but in reality gets taken advantage of and abused by men; and showing that young people have no real perception of power imbalances could’ve been interesting; but again - nothing deep is really done. Sam is inevitably going to be given more shows, and if they’re ever going to be anything watchable he *needs* additional writers to edit and expand on his work. Otherwise it’s always just going to be messy, glamorous nothingness.
Everytime the r slur is used in a tv show or movie or even when someone uses it in a sentence. I cringe because of the history behind that specific word and as an autistic person I do very that word very offensive when is it being said
psa to everyone leaving comments saying "you give me autistic vibes" or whatever. just stop. you cant diagnose other ppl, and ik its probably coming from a good place but its not helpful to assume you know what other ppl are going thru. autism is not visible, pls mind your own business
Thank you for making this video on Sam, Harriyanna. I liked ‘Malcolm and Marie,’ but I understand the criticism of the film. That’s the only production I’ve watched from him. Also, thank you for discussing the neurodivergent conversation. I try not to assume until someone directly tells me in person or a creator talks about it in their videos💯
I'm only a few minutes in, but I am READY ready for this conversation. I haven't watched The Idol, but how Levingson writes the tribulations of Black characters has bothered me since Euphoria's season one, particularly McKay's character.
Right. They had mckay get sexually assaulted and made it about Cassie and never explored it not mentioned it again. And he was basically the token black stereotypical jock disposable black love interest lol.
Oh they want the original cut of the idol. It was 75 mill cause it was already shot. So similar to the Snyder cut, they just want to see the original vision, especially since he too didn’t finish the show with a proper finale
i'm a white queer disabled trans guy and your channel has taught me so much about race that i never would've thought about before whilst still being entertaining. you're so funny and i watched this whole video without knowing who sam levinson is, even though i have never watched any of his shows. you're so engaging and you're really making a difference to the next generation of writers to tell better black stories with poc involved behind the scenes. i love what you do here
This!! I absolutely love this video! Also, as an Autistic/ADHD person, I hate the r-slur! So it makes me angry that Sam puts it in his work. Also, just wanted to add, being Neurodivergent is actually very complex and includes many communities. While many just assume it means Autistic and ADHD, it is way more than that! It can include things like personality disorders, many Disabilities like epilepsy and brain injuries, it can be having clinical depression, it can be having OCD, learning Disabilities, and more. If people are diagnosed with even PTSD or C-PTSD, then they are also included under Neurodivergent. Neurodivergent just means their brain is wired differently from people who are Neurotypical. By the way, you don't have to identify as Neurodivergent at all! Especially if you don't connect with the word! Just thought I would add that complexity! Neurodivergent as a word is very broad and includes so many communities that aren't highlighted enough.
The Weekend is the reason why Sam Levison got involved with The Idol in the first place. The Weekend didn't like that the show was too "female-centric" under amy seitez's direction - a.k.a. he probably didn't like that the show was calling out guys like him when amy seitez created and directed the show - so he kicked her off her own project and spent a lot of time and money looking for someone who could turn the show into the male-gazey fetishizing sexually objectifying fantasy he wanted and rewriting everything to scrap the show of its original identity and hiring big name celebrities. [And he wasn't even good at acting or costume design, so he definitely wrote parts of the show after kicking amy out. Apparently, a lot of female crew members and actresses found the weekend and sam creepy to work with so that tells you everything you need to know about them and the show.] Shame that a24 was involved in the project since they are one of the few companies making movies centered on asian-americans.
Okay so just like. As someone who is Neurodivergent myself? Thank you for talking about this with nuance. I don't always agree with your talks on that subject to be honest, but I can see you come from a good place and like. This is one time I DEFINITELY agree with you. Especially since I was called the r-slur a LOT as a kid and it makes me SO uncomfortable. It's why it's a squick for me, and I'm glad someone else gets that
Euphoria struck me as nothing more than creepy underage torture porn from the minute it debuted and the obsession people had for it mystified me (still does). The idol just looked like a way worse version of it. I guess there will always be people who enjoy gawking at car crashes, which also explains the success of the true crime industry.
Exactly! People tend to enjoy good writing period. When sex/nude scenes are in there though, any enjoyment of the show is typically "despite" that. That's why there're plenty of adults that love "The Owl House," even with it being child-friendly! I wish more adult-targeted shows could get this point and focus on writing serious topics well 😔
I'm really perplexed by his decision to make both of his self-insert characters POC. This is especially true for me in the context of Euphoria, where there are so many characters and so comparatively few characters of color. What is up with him 🤨
I liked Assassination Nation at first but after I did some deep thinking about it. It was completely unnecessary how the main issues were handled overall and most of the scenes made me very uncomfortable as I’m a female. I’m never gonna watch it ever again to be completely honest and If I seen it on TV I’m not gonna watch it point blank period! Once was enough for me
i hate that i do like euphoria. i’m watching it for the second time ever recently and i think i just like the darkness and realness of it, and how teenagers view the world (like when maddy got choked by nate she brushed it off, but the adults knew it was a huge deal). imagine if we had actual good people to write and direct movies… would be 1000x better
Idk if it’s real. The writing doesn’t make sense SO much of the time. The second season in general, most of those events wouldn’t happen that way. Masturbating publicly on a carousel? Running through neighborhoods, breaking & entering & never getting caught? Hmm. Plus we are honestly watching these “kids” being exploited through all the pointless nudity. I like Kennie JD’s video, “Euphoria isn’t real, it’s creepy”
@@ambriaashley3383 yeah it’s definitely got me conflicted because there are weird moments and creepiness for sure. i understand both sides of the argument where some say that’s just how real life is, and all of the more unrealistic stuff can still happen it’s just bumped up for tv. but at the same time it’s weird to show pictures and videos of what’s supposed to be child pornography… a lot of that stuff is unnecessary. that’s what i mean by if it had a different director, one who still left in all of the uncomfortable reality situations with less nudity/exploitation, it would tell a much better story
The Idol photos before sam levinson got he claws on it looked so much fun. Ive been watching the idol through other people like kennieJD. but it is truly ass. Euphoria was carried by the actors and fashion. The Idol has neither and it shows Sam Levinson’s shortcomings. He’s just bad at portraying women, he sexulizes them in the same way he claims to criticize through his work.
That scene where nate waits in maddies corner for like 5 minutes straight then pulls a G*N out on her was so jarring amd tense, then gets completely dropped
I liked euphoria for the vibes cause it made me feel young again, and I related to Cassie A LOT, like I actually went through almost everything she goes through except for the carrousel part 😅 Also Rue’s story literally made me depressed, like I can’t explain it how much hurt me to see her relapse and fighting with her mom, Zendaya carried that show fr.
Re your neurodivergence point, I'm neurodivergent (autistic and possibly adhd), I know lots of other ND people and none of us want to reclaim the r word.
idk who this man is (and i said that when you asked on your insta lol) but i like knowing who the shitty people are to watch out for and i'll watch anything you talk about
I think the backlash from the idol might end up affecting euphoria cause people are really starting to call out Sam as they should and since season 3 of euphoria is getting pushed back till 2026 people might not even gaf about it by time it comes out so there is a chance it might get canceled after season 3 if people don’t care anymore 🤷🏾♀️ and I hope the idol gets cancelled cause i don’t like it end of story
That Cassie scene, and Lily rose's characters penchant for odd self pleasure just scream 'im Sam Levinson and I don't know how women work!!!!' Like he has to portray it as this bizzare freaky male gaze thing, and he really does just need to stop commenting on or portraying female sexuality, like seriously 😂
One of my questions regarding all of this is where does Zendaya fall on the blame scale? She serves as a producer in the star of this huge hit television show, and she also has never once gotten nude for the show, but is complacent, and the fact that there are women on a set she works on that don’t wanna do this, but feel like they have to, and have excepted it in certain circumstances. I really just wanna know why she doesn’t stand up for these people, but seems to constantly back Sam what does that say about her?
Yeah. I always never understood how no representation is worse than bad representation. At least with no representation, I can easily disassociate myself from the characters and just enjoy the story for what it is. Instead of having some stupid "politically correct" BS be lectured to us like dumb children or have some cringey caricature of myself crammed into my face. Not saying I'm completely against the idea of people writing about other people outside their race/ethnicity in general ofc. As long as it's written to be fun and enjoyable or made with passion and good heart, even if a little stereotypical, I'm all on board with it.
I think part of the reason so many people liked Euphoria S1 is because they didn’t have any of his other works to compare it to at that point. So people were probably more forgiving of the problematic aspects of the show. But with him doing more projects, the failures of his work and his weird obsession with showing women and girls getting abused and taken advantage of just became too glaring to ignore.
i am autistic and i am not comfortable saying the r word and i don't see why it would be reclaimed. there's no way to spin it in a way that isn't just so fvcking degrading. i am glad that you still talked about it because it helps for allies to stand up for us too.
i’m pretty sure the costumes for jules was chosen by hunter though. that’s how she dressed in 2018 especially after being in modeling. she even talked about how it was just the more expensive version of what she wore in real life..
Okay so A) Same I also went to school with a lot of girls who walked through the hallways with a high fashion mindset. Got rich white boys to buy them drive them and get things for them. Including drugs and alcohol. Rich white kids be smoking weed under the bleachers and in the parkinglots. B) Either I've know girls in highschool who have done alot of what happened in season 1 or I've done a couple of thoes things. Like Cassie was cringey pick me highschool me fr. 🤦🏿♀️ But I've had friends die of DOs and literally drug addicts going to rehab after highschool. Overall during the first season I was like yeah finally a white guy who wrote an asexual young black girl and all he's doing is writing from the space of his drug addiction. There it is! a white person literally making no excuses and made his main characters NOTHING like him. It is possible. But then the sexualization got really loud and it finally clicked. This creep wants to make porn.
I agree that euphoria can be inappropriate, but as someone who went to a school where people OD in class and out of control house party’s have literally taken down walls I think bringing the dark things into media isn’t inherently wrong. Art imitates life, that doesn’t mean it’s condoning the negativity. It’s gritty and fucked up but so was growing up with almost every female friend I had being sexually assaulted or have an abusive relationship. The lying about your age on dating apps to hook up with older people happens. 15 year olds in rehab happens. “Slutty” age inappropriate outfits happen. Sexual violence happens all the time every day to people that age. I don’t think the show is appropriate, but neither is life. Euphoria came out a few years after I left high school and it was kind of refreshing to see what I saw in real life acknowledged instead of constantly being head behind the curtains, like it was when I was in high school. I guess the biggest difference between Harriyanna and my opinion is that even if it’s explicit I think it’s important to be seen by mass media.
I don't think the idol will cost him his success. The idol was critically panned, but the view numbers are insane. Iirc its the most viewed show on max. People will hate watch everything this man makes.
If Sam Levison wants to keep writing films he definitely should consider a writers room or consulting other writers (especially BIPOC & Women) before pitching & filming his ideas. He is also not a great director or leader on set. I never heard of a director on a multi million dollar production REFUSING to create a shot list. That is just unethical cause it forces everyone on set to be there longer than they should be. Not being open to criticism, and making necessary adjustments to his work will be his downfall.
Sam Levinson always struck me as someone in their own way. He has talent and all his work has so much potential, but he is far up his own butt and thinks his opinions and needles shock value and fetishes are just so important and necessarily, that he doesn't realize that he is blocking his own success. If he had second opinions toned things down a bit. And actually consulted women, minorities and queer folks when writting them his work would be so much better. But is so inlove with his own mind that he is blind to all his short comings and doesn't realize that a lot of times he's not the one competent for the job. But sometimes it feels intentional like he rather write his messed up version of things write what reality actually is for certain folks. The only reality he is true to is his own. And values new shock value over the actual plot. And it's sad to see.
You are so wrong I love Sam Levinson I love Euphoria and I Love the idol and I love Maddy Perez she’s my favourite character in euphoria and I love Cassie rue Jules Kat Lexi fezco Nate Ethan Gia Ali and I love all the characters in Euphoria please respect my opinion
What was so incredible about the potential of season 1 was that it was an ensemble. The main and secondary characters added so much volume to the story. Season 2 retconning all of the secondary characters that should have been vital to the world of the show was the biggest mistake he made. Like Rue's sister and her relationship with the Mckay twins would have been such good content. And if an abusive relationship had started with Casey, it should have been with Daniel, since season 1 was leading in that direction. Nate should have been doing more stalking and it would have been good to see his crazy ass outside of a relationship because then we would have gotten more info on his relationship with his parents. Cal as an adult did not need his own episode, and season 2 should have went deeper into the lie to the cops scheme with Tyler and Jules. Cat should have been trying to figure out who her stalker was, while hiding it from her bf. Maddy in my opinion should have began healing, and it would have been fun if she explored a queer relationship with a friend like Bebe, who both give off queer vibes. Nates homophobic behind would have obviously been mad. And Mckay would still be involved bc he is trying to monitor his brothers. Thats just the tip of the iceburg. Sigh.
Okay. I've largely stayed away from online reviews and opinions on The Idol cause a lot of people's reactions tend to be irritatingly and annoyingly melodramatic and reactive; but I certainly get people's concerns of this show's content when discussed in a calm, mellow, civil, mature and well thought out manner. I'm only posting part of my thoughts now and waiting until after watching harriyanna's video and then I'll share my thoughts.
I just wanna state that Sam Levinson is not the cinematographer of any of his shows he is the director and writer so he doesn’t do the lighting and shot but he does have final say but the person who composed the light shots and angels that we enjoy from these show are Marcell Rev. He is the one who deserve the credit for the cinematography not Sam Levinson.
Thank you!!!
Tbh not even Sam has the final say it’s really HBO or MAX. They just support his wicked approach to film
Was coming here to say this!
• very weird to me how he always chooses teenage girls to be his muse esp when exploring these “taboo topics”
• it’s wild to me how Rue is the protagonist but her black family takes the backseat (Cal got way too much screen time in s2 imo)
Right??? Cal became a main character & Gia and Rue’s mom were paid dust. Not a good look, considering there are no other black main characters at all, since McKay left/was written out
it goes to show you how most men view teenage girls though 😷😬
especially when the characters have so much potential! they are criminally underused and underdeveloped. best scenes in the show were ones where rue was interacting with them imo. but even more than that, they should be developed independently as well. you're so right when you say cal got too much screen time because...why did he? who genuinely cared about him or his redemption story when he's a disgusting character? should've gave cal like 2 scenes and the rest to gia and rue's mother
I heard about how bad The Idol is, and when I saw that Sam Levinson made it, I thought to myself “Always him at the scene of the crime.”
🤣
Taylor Swift and HAIM:🎵He did it... He did it!...🎵
😏☺️😄🤣
Ong 😂😂😩
😂
I hate how Sam Levinson sexualise teenagers, and recently did it again in "The Idol", after showing the underage female character naked. I don't care that she's played by a 27 year old actress, it's still icky, and the character could have easily been in her early 20s.
Right? Sam really tried to bring the rest of society down with him. Now we all going to jail smh lol
Exactly. Like atleast make her of age and out of high school 😭 why make her a minor in the show? what’s the point?
He does it throughout Euphoria literally a HS setting. Not new unfortunately 🥲
@@vaginaspecialist wait she was a minor the entire time I thought she was in her early 20’s
No because as a black autistic and physically disabled person, I hated how Sam Levinson would put the r slur in both Euphoria and The Idol numerous times, made me wanna throw my remote at the tv
22:30 This is so true, he can only write Rue bc he went through substance abuse. The only time we get a good storytelling from Euphoria is when he lets an actor/actress literally write their own plotline (like Jules special episode, or Kat's storyline going to shit (it already was shit tbh but got worst) when Barbie disagreed with her character's writing)
The fact that the idol was originally going to be more female point of view and then it’s completely rewrote it to show more nude scenes like I watched 3 episodes of it I think Lilly character was interesting her storyline of her figuring out who she is as a pop star and dealing with her mom death I wish we got more of that sorry for the long comment 😂😭
Euphoria is just an adults voyeuristic fantasy of highschool
So true. "Heartstopper" and "Degrassi: Next Generation (till season 5)" are much better high school-focused tv shows
I really dislike how many shows there are about high school. More often than not they’re written by people who didn’t even have a good experience there, so they’re just writing out their grievances or situating a fantasy about what they think was going on with the “popular” kids. I don’t know why they can’t just set these shows in college instead, everyone’s legal age and there is a lot more freedom in that environment.
Although you can’t deny it’s portrayal of drug addiction and how it affects people is top tier
Right. It’s been giving AO3. His genderbent high school AU.
One of the most disturbing moments is when Maddy was being groomed by a grown man at 14 and Rue said she was “ in control “. She was being preyed on by a grown man. As someone who was preyed on by my mom’s boyfriend at 15, no teenager can control an adult. He was in control. Every time I didn’t do what he said, he would try to get me in trouble with my mother. He even masturbated in front of me and he touched me inappropriately when I was sleeping and even called me into his room and touched me. Predators need to held accountable for preying on children. AlsoI hated when they gloried drugs as well. I have a younger brother who was on drugs and had a drug overdose and seeing Rue go off on her mother and sister and have a drug overdose made me break down. 😓
I am so sorry that happened to you. You are really strong to make it through that. your points completely makes sense and I hope you are doing well today.❤
it was in maddy’s pov so that’s why rue said it. it’s not right but it’s honestly realistic for children to feel powerful because they attracted a grown adult. look at how many young boys get excited when grown men tw3rk on them etc but i’m so sorry that happened to you
Sam levingson should just stick to directing, he can get good shots and really invoke emotion in many scenes. The writing is trash-dumpster fire, he needs to either hire someone with talent to write, or go back to the drawing board. Euphoria was sheer luck and the marketing of Zendaya really helped him, without her acting the show may have tanked early on.
Such a good point. She gave that show legitimacy when it could’ve been another cringe teen or creepy teen show. She was so grateful to him for the opportunity, but he got so much out of her as well.
it was also his personal tie to the show, rue explores his addiction with drugs and a lot of her narration is some of the stuff he went through, atleast all the stuff he said in the press
Thats not his work though. These nice shots come from Marcell rev. he deserves the credit. I'm my opinion, Sam is mediocre at best.
I did not need to learn about Sam levinson's Oedipus Complex today.
OK, I'm not trying to over step. But as someone who is neurodivergent I'd like to say that it's a lot more broad than people think. When people hear the term they immediately think of ADHD, Autism and Learning disabilities. But it's a lot more braod it also includes personallity disorders, tic disorders, OCD and disabilities like Epilepsy. I'm not trying to say you have to identify with the label if you don't resonate with it. I've just noticed that a lot of people hear the term neurodivergent and immediately think Autism. When a lot more disorders fall under the neurodivergent umbrella.
Just wanna say, as an autistic person, I really appreciate your section on that subject, it felt really refreshing and respectful. And yes 99.9% of us definitely don't like neurotypical people using the r-word! Many of us don't even 'reclaim' it ourselves.
It's complicated because many people (especially people who aren't white cis men) don't get diagnosed until later in life, and can go for years not knowing they're neurodivergent, and some people can't get a diagnosis for various reasons, so I'm not here to gatekeep. I didn't get diagnosed until adulthood. But on the other hand there's been a trend for a while of people really watering down autism into some kind of uwu quirky personality type, or saying "everyone's a little bit autistic" when really it's a serious neurodevelopmental condition which generally makes life extremely difficult for those who have it.
People need to understand that yes, a lot of neurodivergent traits are things most people can relate to in some way BUT the difference is we have them 50x as intense and all at once all the time. It's a bit like a person who has severe clinical depression vs. someone who feels a bit down sometimes, or someone with a severe anxiety disorder vs. someone who feels kind of anxious before a big event. So I don't want to discourage people from learning about autism, ADHD and the range of various conditions which come under 'neurodivergent' and possibly finding out there's an explanation for struggles they've been having, but I do wish there was more accurate information out there. It's not something we 'identify' with to feel different or special, these are really serious conditions which affect our lives.
Personally I do have a positive sense of identity in being autistic. It's not an illness or disease and it does have positive aspects, but at the same time it has caused me to have profoundly negative experiences in the world, it's something which is woven into the fabric of every day, I'm severely traumatised, and unable to do many things I would like to do - and I have relatively low support needs. It's great that people are reflecting on themselves, and more neurodivergent people are getting diagnosed and getting help, but this "ohh you have totally autistic vibes~" stuff is very frustrating.
I hated when Jules cheated. I could’ve loved a poly relationship, but there was no three way consent. It made me so uncomfortable how Jules became so s*xualized, I had forward in skip some of her scenes. :(
I also feel like it ruined her character too. When Rue first started hanging out with Elliot I couldn’t stand the fact that Jules accused her of cheating without any proof, it just made her super hypocritical too. Such a waste of a good a character.
I hate how they made Jules look like a lesbian with comphet in her special just to then make her cheat with a man in season 2
@@celestinoclemente1954 this! because he just threw away jules' whole development in the special episode(s). it made me genuinely angry
Tbh jules is a fantasy that a lot of het men have about lesbians - yes, I'm a lesbian, but sex with men is so good it might convince me otherwise
To be honest I just overall don’t think his writing is all that good. I think many characters he creates are bland and truly are only ever saved by the actors who play them. I also think he uses way too much “edgy” wording in his scripts. Like as a lesbian myself for example I don’t understand why he feels the need to use gay as an insult and also use the f word. It just makes me a little uncomfortable. Also I just don’t think aesthetics are enough. Most of the time it’s secondary. If the script is bad then clothes and sets don’t mean anything. Let’s not even get started on how he treats female characters. It’s horrendous.
🙌🏾💯
Totally agree. When I watched euphoria I wasn’t able to connect to most of the characters and found them to be very flat, just played by good actors. I always felt like I was just missing something because everyone hyped up the show and the characters so much.
I think to me the characters in euphoria were interesting because they extremely flawed but I also do think the actors is the main reason I feel that way
I believe it might’ve been The Weeknd who wrote in the gratuitous use of those slurs, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was both of them
I think some of the characters and plot lines have potential, but then things just fall apart or never follow through. Kats story was I think very compelling and interesting, plus sized people are not really present in many young adult shows. I even think that while I didn’t like it, the camming thing might’ve worked had they played around with a “dichotomy” thing - Kat going from one extreme to the other and experiencing the negatives of both: being insecure and not in tune with her sexuality at all - to full sexualisation and exploitation. Then showing that the best position is a middle; where sexuality can be empowering but shouldn’t be exploited. Especially with only fans culture it could be compelling. However, it just fell flat and didn’t really get explored all that much in the end and ended up with a “porn is good” bullshit thing. Even with Maddy, that line of “she was actually the one in power” that was describing her being with an older man at a young age - I legit (while I was watching; obvs not now) thought that perhaps it was supposed to be telling a story about how young women don’t believe that they’re being taken advantage of at the time; and will believe things like this - but ultimately it is being taken advantage of. Nope! He actually wrote that line thinking it was a good background detail. Telling maddy’s story around how she thinks she’s in control of these situations but in reality gets taken advantage of and abused by men; and showing that young people have no real perception of power imbalances could’ve been interesting; but again - nothing deep is really done. Sam is inevitably going to be given more shows, and if they’re ever going to be anything watchable he *needs* additional writers to edit and expand on his work. Otherwise it’s always just going to be messy, glamorous nothingness.
Everytime the r slur is used in a tv show or movie or even when someone uses it in a sentence. I cringe because of the history behind that specific word and as an autistic person I do very that word very offensive when is it being said
psa to everyone leaving comments saying "you give me autistic vibes" or whatever. just stop. you cant diagnose other ppl, and ik its probably coming from a good place but its not helpful to assume you know what other ppl are going thru. autism is not visible, pls mind your own business
boosting this
Thank you for making this video on Sam, Harriyanna. I liked ‘Malcolm and Marie,’ but I understand the criticism of the film. That’s the only production I’ve watched from him. Also, thank you for discussing the neurodivergent conversation. I try not to assume until someone directly tells me in person or a creator talks about it in their videos💯
I'm only a few minutes in, but I am READY ready for this conversation. I haven't watched The Idol, but how Levingson writes the tribulations of Black characters has bothered me since Euphoria's season one, particularly McKay's character.
Right. They had mckay get sexually assaulted and made it about Cassie and never explored it not mentioned it again. And he was basically the token black stereotypical jock disposable black love interest lol.
Sam Levinson NEEDS to be put on a WATCH LIST 😤
Oh they want the original cut of the idol. It was 75 mill cause it was already shot. So similar to the Snyder cut, they just want to see the original vision, especially since he too didn’t finish the show with a proper finale
Sam Levinson being the new Dan Schnider is a crazy accurate parallel.
💙💙💙 Did not know about the blonde woman fetish. I am so glad I never watched Malcolm & Marie.
i'm a white queer disabled trans guy and your channel has taught me so much about race that i never would've thought about before whilst still being entertaining. you're so funny and i watched this whole video without knowing who sam levinson is, even though i have never watched any of his shows. you're so engaging and you're really making a difference to the next generation of writers to tell better black stories with poc involved behind the scenes. i love what you do here
This!! I absolutely love this video! Also, as an Autistic/ADHD person, I hate the r-slur! So it makes me angry that Sam puts it in his work. Also, just wanted to add, being Neurodivergent is actually very complex and includes many communities. While many just assume it means Autistic and ADHD, it is way more than that! It can include things like personality disorders, many Disabilities like epilepsy and brain injuries, it can be having clinical depression, it can be having OCD, learning Disabilities, and more. If people are diagnosed with even PTSD or C-PTSD, then they are also included under Neurodivergent. Neurodivergent just means their brain is wired differently from people who are Neurotypical. By the way, you don't have to identify as Neurodivergent at all! Especially if you don't connect with the word! Just thought I would add that complexity! Neurodivergent as a word is very broad and includes so many communities that aren't highlighted enough.
The real question is who even letting this guy direct in the first place? 🤷🏾♀️🙄
hbo and a24. ITS THEM.
@@harriyannawell they need to be stopped asap!
He’s a nepo baby
The Weekend is the reason why Sam Levison got involved with The Idol in the first place. The Weekend didn't like that the show was too "female-centric" under amy seitez's direction - a.k.a. he probably didn't like that the show was calling out guys like him when amy seitez created and directed the show - so he kicked her off her own project and spent a lot of time and money looking for someone who could turn the show into the male-gazey fetishizing sexually objectifying fantasy he wanted and rewriting everything to scrap the show of its original identity and hiring big name celebrities. [And he wasn't even good at acting or costume design, so he definitely wrote parts of the show after kicking amy out. Apparently, a lot of female crew members and actresses found the weekend and sam creepy to work with so that tells you everything you need to know about them and the show.] Shame that a24 was involved in the project since they are one of the few companies making movies centered on asian-americans.
@@harriyanna Of course it's the same guys who greenlit Velma. 😩
Okay so just like. As someone who is Neurodivergent myself? Thank you for talking about this with nuance. I don't always agree with your talks on that subject to be honest, but I can see you come from a good place and like. This is one time I DEFINITELY agree with you. Especially since I was called the r-slur a LOT as a kid and it makes me SO uncomfortable. It's why it's a squick for me, and I'm glad someone else gets that
Euphoria struck me as nothing more than creepy underage torture porn from the minute it debuted and the obsession people had for it mystified me (still does). The idol just looked like a way worse version of it. I guess there will always be people who enjoy gawking at car crashes, which also explains the success of the true crime industry.
Commenting before I watch it just because, I’m excited for this because of all the discourse around Sam levinson lately
So we gonna talk about how each dramatic bad girl crybaby blonde women he works with looks like his mom?
Oh god.... Mad lad is one step away from getting r@pe allegations 🤢.
Freud is rolling in his grave fr
@@madlie2452 foul 😭🤣
I think when euphoria came out for me it was zenday being in more dramatic darker role that so was cool to me
No joke everyone that I’ve talked to that hasn’t watched euphoria said they didn’t watch it cause it was filled with sex scenes
Exactly! People tend to enjoy good writing period. When sex/nude scenes are in there though, any enjoyment of the show is typically "despite" that. That's why there're plenty of adults that love "The Owl House," even with it being child-friendly! I wish more adult-targeted shows could get this point and focus on writing serious topics well 😔
I'm really perplexed by his decision to make both of his self-insert characters POC. This is especially true for me in the context of Euphoria, where there are so many characters and so comparatively few characters of color. What is up with him 🤨
I liked Assassination Nation at first but after I did some deep thinking about it. It was completely unnecessary how the main issues were handled overall and most of the scenes made me very uncomfortable as I’m a female. I’m never gonna watch it ever again to be completely honest and If I seen it on TV I’m not gonna watch it point blank period! Once was enough for me
i hate that i do like euphoria. i’m watching it for the second time ever recently and i think i just like the darkness and realness of it, and how teenagers view the world (like when maddy got choked by nate she brushed it off, but the adults knew it was a huge deal).
imagine if we had actual good people to write and direct movies… would be 1000x better
Idk if it’s real. The writing doesn’t make sense SO much of the time. The second season in general, most of those events wouldn’t happen that way. Masturbating publicly on a carousel? Running through neighborhoods, breaking & entering & never getting caught? Hmm. Plus we are honestly watching these “kids” being exploited through all the pointless nudity. I like Kennie JD’s video, “Euphoria isn’t real, it’s creepy”
@@ambriaashley3383 yeah it’s definitely got me conflicted because there are weird moments and creepiness for sure. i understand both sides of the argument where some say that’s just how real life is, and all of the more unrealistic stuff can still happen it’s just bumped up for tv. but at the same time it’s weird to show pictures and videos of what’s supposed to be child pornography… a lot of that stuff is unnecessary. that’s what i mean by if it had a different director, one who still left in all of the uncomfortable reality situations with less nudity/exploitation, it would tell a much better story
Sometimes it feels like a fanfic coming to life, teenagers being idiots and doing idiot things and kinda getting away with it
Napoleon dynamite is closer to a real teenager than anyone from euphoria tbh
I love how most of the problems with the Idol can be summed up by saying Abel and Sam should just stick to music videos 🤣
Sam Levinson don't get dragged challenge (impossible)
The Idol photos before sam levinson got he claws on it looked so much fun. Ive been watching the idol through other people like kennieJD. but it is truly ass. Euphoria was carried by the actors and fashion. The Idol has neither and it shows Sam Levinson’s shortcomings. He’s just bad at portraying women, he sexulizes them in the same way he claims to criticize through his work.
That scene where nate waits in maddies corner for like 5 minutes straight then pulls a G*N out on her was so jarring amd tense, then gets completely dropped
Since Zendaya is a now executive producer on the show euphoria I hope she’ll have an input about the over-sexualizing of his characters.
I liked euphoria for the vibes cause it made me feel young again, and I related to Cassie A LOT, like I actually went through almost everything she goes through except for the carrousel part 😅 Also Rue’s story literally made me depressed, like I can’t explain it how much hurt me to see her relapse and fighting with her mom, Zendaya carried that show fr.
How do you relate to her? How?
I didn’t know he was a Nepo-man but when you said it I just thought of he’s dad being the Nickelodeon producer Dan foot man 💀
Levinson just gives me the ick for real. He just makes explicit and expensive music videos with interspersed dialogue that may or may not make sense.
Literally had no idea who that was before seeing people’s review of The Idol, and now I wished I still hadn’t heard of him
Re your neurodivergence point, I'm neurodivergent (autistic and possibly adhd), I know lots of other ND people and none of us want to reclaim the r word.
Riverdalification 9:40
idk who this man is (and i said that when you asked on your insta lol) but i like knowing who the shitty people are to watch out for and i'll watch anything you talk about
I've always thought that Euphoria was overrated.
Same...
you just gained a new subscriber👍
I think the backlash from the idol might end up affecting euphoria cause people are really starting to call out Sam as they should and since season 3 of euphoria is getting pushed back till 2026 people might not even gaf about it by time it comes out so there is a chance it might get canceled after season 3 if people don’t care anymore 🤷🏾♀️ and I hope the idol gets cancelled cause i don’t like it end of story
That Cassie scene, and Lily rose's characters penchant for odd self pleasure just scream 'im Sam Levinson and I don't know how women work!!!!'
Like he has to portray it as this bizzare freaky male gaze thing, and he really does just need to stop commenting on or portraying female sexuality, like seriously 😂
I really appreciate your videos and perspective on media. i get excited to see your hot takes every time. keep it up!!!
When I saw the length of the video I knew I had to go get some food lol
One of my questions regarding all of this is where does Zendaya fall on the blame scale? She serves as a producer in the star of this huge hit television show, and she also has never once gotten nude for the show, but is complacent, and the fact that there are women on a set she works on that don’t wanna do this, but feel like they have to, and have excepted it in certain circumstances. I really just wanna know why she doesn’t stand up for these people, but seems to constantly back Sam what does that say about her?
Yeah. I always never understood how no representation is worse than bad representation. At least with no representation, I can easily disassociate myself from the characters and just enjoy the story for what it is. Instead of having some stupid "politically correct" BS be lectured to us like dumb children or have some cringey caricature of myself crammed into my face.
Not saying I'm completely against the idea of people writing about other people outside their race/ethnicity in general ofc. As long as it's written to be fun and enjoyable or made with passion and good heart, even if a little stereotypical, I'm all on board with it.
I think part of the reason so many people liked Euphoria S1 is because they didn’t have any of his other works to compare it to at that point. So people were probably more forgiving of the problematic aspects of the show. But with him doing more projects, the failures of his work and his weird obsession with showing women and girls getting abused and taken advantage of just became too glaring to ignore.
I love Dounia 😭
Oh god your intro to this video is hilarious 😂
sexualizing teens just because you can cuz they're the legal age of consent is really weird to me. and it's always teen girls ofc smh
i am autistic and i am not comfortable saying the r word and i don't see why it would be reclaimed. there's no way to spin it in a way that isn't just so fvcking degrading. i am glad that you still talked about it because it helps for allies to stand up for us too.
i’m pretty sure the costumes for jules was chosen by hunter though. that’s how she dressed in 2018 especially after being in modeling. she even talked about how it was just the more expensive version of what she wore in real life..
Sam Levinson did dirty when it comes to cat and cassie 14:50 15:05
Okay so A) Same I also went to school with a lot of girls who walked through the hallways with a high fashion mindset. Got rich white boys to buy them drive them and get things for them. Including drugs and alcohol. Rich white kids be smoking weed under the bleachers and in the parkinglots.
B) Either I've know girls in highschool who have done alot of what happened in season 1 or I've done a couple of thoes things. Like Cassie was cringey pick me highschool me fr. 🤦🏿♀️ But I've had friends die of DOs and literally drug addicts going to rehab after highschool.
Overall during the first season I was like yeah finally a white guy who wrote an asexual young black girl and all he's doing is writing from the space of his drug addiction. There it is! a white person literally making no excuses and made his main characters NOTHING like him. It is possible. But then the sexualization got really loud and it finally clicked. This creep wants to make porn.
I agree that euphoria can be inappropriate, but as someone who went to a school where people OD in class and out of control house party’s have literally taken down walls I think bringing the dark things into media isn’t inherently wrong. Art imitates life, that doesn’t mean it’s condoning the negativity. It’s gritty and fucked up but so was growing up with almost every female friend I had being sexually assaulted or have an abusive relationship. The lying about your age on dating apps to hook up with older people happens. 15 year olds in rehab happens. “Slutty” age inappropriate outfits happen. Sexual violence happens all the time every day to people that age. I don’t think the show is appropriate, but neither is life. Euphoria came out a few years after I left high school and it was kind of refreshing to see what I saw in real life acknowledged instead of constantly being head behind the curtains, like it was when I was in high school. I guess the biggest difference between Harriyanna and my opinion is that even if it’s explicit I think it’s important to be seen by mass media.
Omgggggg literally finally someone mentioning the role Jeremy o Harris plays in this man’s fuckery
I don't think the idol will cost him his success. The idol was critically panned, but the view numbers are insane. Iirc its the most viewed show on max. People will hate watch everything this man makes.
No, because right as you said, yes I stole this from PBS Kids. I was like she most definitely stole that from PBS Kids.
If Sam Levison wants to keep writing films he definitely should consider a writers room or consulting other writers (especially BIPOC & Women) before pitching & filming his ideas.
He is also not a great director or leader on set. I never heard of a director on a multi million dollar production REFUSING to create a shot list. That is just unethical cause it forces everyone on set to be there longer than they should be.
Not being open to criticism, and making necessary adjustments to his work will be his downfall.
I haven't seen the full video yet, but girlll i love ur bonnet, where'd u get it? 😭😭
Finally someone shares my hatred for Assassination Nation
ITS ASS
I'm starting to think he's basing all these projects off some crazy azz blonde he knew back in the day.
on Sam, I just won't be surprised if the FBI is watching his searching habits
Sam Levinson always struck me as someone in their own way. He has talent and all his work has so much potential, but he is far up his own butt and thinks his opinions and needles shock value and fetishes are just so important and necessarily, that he doesn't realize that he is blocking his own success. If he had second opinions toned things down a bit. And actually consulted women, minorities and queer folks when writting them his work would be so much better. But is so inlove with his own mind that he is blind to all his short comings and doesn't realize that a lot of times he's not the one competent for the job. But sometimes it feels intentional like he rather write his messed up version of things write what reality actually is for certain folks. The only reality he is true to is his own. And values new shock value over the actual plot. And it's sad to see.
You are so wrong I love Sam Levinson I love Euphoria and I Love the idol and I love Maddy Perez she’s my favourite character in euphoria and I love Cassie rue Jules Kat Lexi fezco Nate Ethan Gia Ali and I love all the characters in Euphoria please respect my opinion
I found Rue annoying so I think I’d find Sam annoying too
can you please talk about kosa
Sam Levinson creations were always meant to crash and burn.
🩷💕🩷💕🩷💕🩷💕🩷💕🩷💕🩷💕🩷
The audio is so bad. It's sounds like your censoring a word every few seconds, but you are not. I had to stop watching.
What was so incredible about the potential of season 1 was that it was an ensemble. The main and secondary characters added so much volume to the story. Season 2 retconning all of the secondary characters that should have been vital to the world of the show was the biggest mistake he made. Like Rue's sister and her relationship with the Mckay twins would have been such good content. And if an abusive relationship had started with Casey, it should have been with Daniel, since season 1 was leading in that direction. Nate should have been doing more stalking and it would have been good to see his crazy ass outside of a relationship because then we would have gotten more info on his relationship with his parents. Cal as an adult did not need his own episode, and season 2 should have went deeper into the lie to the cops scheme with Tyler and Jules. Cat should have been trying to figure out who her stalker was, while hiding it from her bf. Maddy in my opinion should have began healing, and it would have been fun if she explored a queer relationship with a friend like Bebe, who both give off queer vibes. Nates homophobic behind would have obviously been mad. And Mckay would still be involved bc he is trying to monitor his brothers. Thats just the tip of the iceburg. Sigh.
Okay. I've largely stayed away from online reviews and opinions on The Idol cause a lot of people's reactions tend to be irritatingly and annoyingly melodramatic and reactive; but I certainly get people's concerns of this show's content when discussed in a calm, mellow, civil, mature and well thought out manner. I'm only posting part of my thoughts now and waiting until after watching harriyanna's video and then I'll share my thoughts.