Last week's episode saw Cal and Jules come into contact for the first time since their hookup, and once he realized who she was, it was clear how immediately nervous he was. Jules lied about her age to Cal, saying she was 22 when in fact she was 17, but the show hasn't made this a huge issue instead, it would seem, Cal's concern is people learning of his secret life involving sex with gay men and transgender women, rather than the fact that he committed statutory rape with his son's underage classmate. The entire series kicked off with a situation of this nature, when Cal Jacobs, played by Eric Dane, had a one-night stand with Jules. If the person is any younger, the adult is liable for breaking the law-even if the younger party seems to think they're "the one in control," to quote Rue. The "legally competent" portion of that definition is intrinsically important to understanding this concept: This is age, set by the state, where someone can legally say "yes" to an adult. The "age of consent," by definition, is "the age at which one is legally competent to give consent especially to marriage or to sexual intercourse." The age dictated by law varies from state to state (New York, for example has an age of content of 17), but the legal age of consent in California, where Euphoria is set, is 18. Kat, played by Barbie Ferreira, is clearly going through something of a sexual revolution within the walls of the show, but each "relationship" she's had-a middle aged naked man over a video chat, a former older high school student she met at the fair, and a guy who works in the mall clothing store-appears to have violated age of consent rules. The show has depicted a number of its underage characters engaging in physical relations with older characters. That's not even the first time the show has handled age gaps in a questionable way. Which in retrospect seems kind of rape-y and weird, but honestly, she was the one in control."ĭespite this being a visual and thematic reference to Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film Lolita, based on the 1955 Vladimir Nabokov novel of the same name-both Maddy in the flashback scene and Lolita's titular character wear the same oversized sunglasses- it's still a bizarre, off-message, and jarring (even for Euphoria) thing to be included in the narration from a character who has proven to occasionally be all-knowing in this world.īecause if it weren't obvious, it should probably be stated: There is no scenario where a 14-year old, of any gender, is "in control" when with a person who is "like 40." And for a teen drama, let alone any show, to present it that way without consequence or detriment is potentially very dangerous. "Because the truth-truth is that when she was 14 on vacation in Panama City Beach, she met a guy who was, like, 40. "Granted, she didn't always tell the truth," the narration states. While the narration for Nate's episode three weeks ago announced that he liked Maddy because she told him she was a virgin, this week showed that she was not being honest with him. Just like the other episodes, "'03 Bonnie and Clyde" opened with a look at the childhood of our centric character, with narration from Zendaya's Rue telling the story. Which makes the problems that Euphoria seems to be developing when handling certain interactions all the more confounding. The episode, directed by actress Jennifer Morrison, dealt with abusive relationships, and showed how easily some people can become victims of a cycle of abuse. The latest episode focused on the character Maddy, played by actress Alexa Demie. But the depiction of sexual relationships between older adults and underage teenagers has stuck out as a consistent eyebrow-raiser on a show where raised eyebrows tend to be the baseline. Orgasms on carousels fentanyl-riddled encounters with dangerous drug dealers lots and lots of penises on screen at the same time: all of this is fair game for the new teen drama. But a smaller detail on age of consent raises a larger concern on the show's depiction.Įuphoria has earned an unusually long leash, even by HBO's standards.The episode rather brilliantly dealt with the fallout of abusive relationships.Maddy was at the center of the latest episode of Euphoria.Warning: This post contains spoilers for the fifth episode of Euphoria.
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