HBO’s Euphoria has only been on the air for a month but the new show has been no stranger to controversy during its run. The show has dealt with tough topics, ranging from drugs, sex, gender identity issues, and more, but it may have just run into a topic that it can’t handle.
Boybands.
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‘Euphoria’ deals with a lot of heavy subjects, extremely graphically.
The show’s star, Zendaya, plays Rue, a teenage drug addict trying to deal with her past overdose and stint in rehab. Each episode focuses on a person in Rue’s life.
This includes Jules, a transgender girl who’s friends with Rue.
The show received a lot of praise for casting an actual transgender actress in the part, rather than a cisgender man or woman just pretending to be trans.
‘Euphoria’s third episode centers around a teenage fanfiction writer.
The teenager Kat Hernandez, as played by Barbie Ferreira, spends her free time reading and writing fanfiction centered on the members of One Direction.
Kat’s stories are about Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson in particular.
Known by 1D fans by the portmanteau “Larry Stylinson,” the duo was incredibly popular with real life fanfiction writers during the band’s heyday, with some people going so far as to believe the two singers were actually in a relationship in real life.
This belief was so strong that certain 1D fans harassed the band’s real life girlfriends and families.
While Harry Styles has remained silent on this issue, Louis has spoken up multiple times over the years asking for fans to respect him and his life.
When Louis’ son Freddie was born in 2016, those same fans claimed it was a stunt.
Some diehard believers in “Larry Stylinson” were convinced that the baby in the photos was either a fake baby doll or was just photoshopped into the shot.
Even though that was three years ago, the comments haven’t stopped.
Fans are still harassing Louis, his family, and his girlfriend over their belief that he is actually hiding a secret relationship with Harry Styles.
In 2017, a group of One Direction fans actually attacked Louis’ girlfriend in an airport.
In a statement to Buzzfeed News , Louis’ publicist said of the attack, “The paparazzi provoked and caused the altercation that occurred with Louis at the airport this morning. This is not the first or last time that a paparazzi has created an altercation with a celebrity. While the altercation was going on with the paparazzi, three other individuals were attacking his girlfriend during this incident and he came to her defense.”
All of this may be why ‘Euphoria’ may have hit a nerve for Louis.
The scene in question involved Kat narrating a fanfiction she was writing about the pair, and as she does so, an animated version of Louis and Harry appear on screen, acting out the story.
The scene was incredibly explicit.
Like most episodes of Euphoria , this one was graphic. The scene involved the animated versions of the 1D members performing explicit sexual acts backstage before a concert.
While fans had hoped the scene had been approved, Louis quickly took to Twitter to deny that.
When a fan tweeted that they were “just going to sit and hope that they for some reason approved it,” Louis responded with a decisive, “I can categorically say that I was not contacted nor did I approve it.”
Some fans immediately pointed how disrespectful this scene was.
Many people pointed out that it was “gross and disrespectful” to depict two real people in this kind of situation on television without their consent to do so.
Other people thought people were taking it too seriously.
Some fans of the show argued that it was just a realistic depiction of some teenagers’ lives in 2013, when the show was set.
Barbie Ferreira, who plays the show’s fanfiction writer, had this to say.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter , Barbie said, “I can relate to that as a 22-year-old woman who lived through the One Direction age. It’s such a reality for so many people, and so many children and teens that are fans just have this escapist world.”
Barbie feels like the escapism of fandom is the more important point.
“It’s really interesting to me because I was definitely a part of that, where I wanted to escape my own life and focus on others because it was easier and felt more meaningful,” Barbie continued.
Harry Styles has not yet publicly commented on the scene.
