Euphoria wants audiences to reexamine the hold the penis has on our cultural imagination
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The HBO teen series "both reminds us of the violent history this particular body part has often had on television, while also making clear that sometimes, a d*ck is just a d*ck," says Manuel Betancourt. He adds: "Recent depictions of male full frontal nudity on TV on shows like FX’s American Gods and Netflix’s Easy — both of which showed erect penises no less — have tried to offset the male gaze that has long defined and controlled what kinds of naked bodies are meant to be seen (and lusted after) on the small screen. But Euphoria encourages us to reassess how the naked male body has been deployed within storylines about sexual abuse centered on dangerous men. Not intent on just parading dicks for our titillating pleasure or uncritically offering up scenes of sexual assault where male bodies command power by their mere presence, Euphoria asks us to question why it is that male full frontal nudity continues to so rattle and excite us." ALSO: How Jennifer Morrison ended up directing this week's Euphoria.
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