Euphoria's Zendaya Responds To Critics: 'Our Show Is Not A Moral Tale To Teach People How To Live Their Life'

By Franca Quarneti, Via El Planteo.

Zendaya, the leading actress in HBO’s Euphoria and it-girl of the moment, responded to the organization D.A.R.E., which criticized the production for "glorifying addictions".

What happened?

In dialogue with TMZ, an anonymous representative of D.A.R.E (Drugs Abuse Resistance Education) argued that Euphoria could exacerbate mental health problems in young people.
"It is unfortunate that HBO, social media, television program reviewers, and paid advertising have chosen to refer to the show as 'groundbreaking' rather than recognizing the potential negative consequences on school-age children who today face unparalleled risks and mental health challenges," the rep told TMZ. "Rather than further each parent’s desire to keep their children safe from the potentially horrific consequences of drug abuse and other high-risk behavior, HBO’s television drama, Euphoria, chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use, addiction, anonymous sex, violence, and other destructive behaviors as common and widespread in today’s world." 

The anti-drug program founded in 1983 offered to advise the series' producers on their portrayal of teen substance use: “We would welcome the opportunity for our team, including members of our high school-aged Youth Advocacy Board, to meet with individuals at HBO who are involved with producing Euphoria to present our concerns directly.”

What did Zendaya reply to D.A.R.E.?

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zendaya, 25, replied to D.A.R.E: "Our show is in no way a moral tale to teach people how to live their life or what they should be doing."
"If anything, the feeling behind Euphoria, or whatever we have always been trying to do with it, is to hopefully help people feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain. And maybe feel like they're not the only one going through or dealing with what they're dealing with,” she added.

How effective is D.A.R.E.?

As reported by Merry Jane, the effectiveness of D.A.R.E. is in question since 1994, when a nonprofit, the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), concluded that “the effect of curriculum on drug use […] is slight and not statistically significant.” Follow-up studies in 2004 and 2019 showed the same results.