This 
time 
last 
year, 
the 
Internet was preparing itself 
for the long-awaited sophomore 
season of “Euphoria.” Season 
two dropped in January 2022 
after complications from the 
pandemic left viewers waiting 
three years since the release of 
the first season. While there was 
speculation and excitement about 
what the second season would 
entail, no one was ready for the 
ruthless amount of unnecessary 
nudity that stained our screens.
Viewers were quick to notice 
that Sydney Sweeney’s (“The 
White Lotus”) character Cassie 
had more nude scenes than any 
other 
character 
and 
shared 
their concerns on social media 
platforms 
like 
Twitter 
and 
TikTok. One Tweet reads “now 
even jacob has said something 
about the nudity in euphoria, 
sam levinson you’re a sick man,” 
referring to actor Jacob Elordi 
(“The 
Kissing 
Booth”) 
who 
plays Nate Jacobs on the show, 
and the producer Sam Levinson 
(“Malcolm & Marie”). Another 
user comments that “i think 
euphoria would be a much more 
interesting show if it focused 
on exploring grief rather than 
on trying to portray the most 
extreme 
situations 
possible 
and show the most nudity on 
screen,” emphasizing that for 
many 
viewers, 
unnecessary 
nudity detracts from the show’s 
storyline more than it adds 
nuance. 
It’s not just the superfluity of 
the nudity that is a problem, but 
also its relation to the context of 
the show. “Euphoria” paints a 
very unrealistic and dangerous 
image of sexuality for young 
people, who are watching a 
show that is supposed to revolve 
around a group of high schoolers. 
In the context of the show, these 
are underage kids engaging in 

excessive displays of sexuality, 
frequently 
underscored 
with 
violence. 
The 
simple 
nudity 
isn’t the issue, but rather how 
the excessive displays of nudity 
— especially those accentuated 
with abuse — promote a harmful 
depiction of hypersexuality for 
viewers and actors alike. 
Though 
actors 
from 
“Euphoria” have spoken up in 
defense of Levinson and the 
show’s nudity, their comments 
are not always relieving: “There 
are moments where Cassie was 
supposed to be shirtless and I 
would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really 
think that’s necessary here.’ 
… When I didn’t want to do 
a nude scene, he didn’t make 
me,” Sweeney shared with The 
Independent. While it’s nice to 
know that Sweeney maintained 
some autonomy on set, it is 
distressing to learn that she was 
responsible for telling Levinson 
“no,” and a bit appalling to learn 
that the second season was 
originally going to have more 
nudity. 
The nudity of “Euphoria” (for 
characters of all genders) was so 
excessive, it was more shocking 
to see an episode without any. 
While most fans didn’t hesitate 
to mock the show or critique 
Levinson for the superfluous 
nudity and sex scenes, others 
remained unfazed: “I understand 
the argument of Euphoria having 
too much nudity because they’re 
high schoolers in the show but 
at the same time its like….is this 
the first and only HBO series you 
have watched?” 
That Twitter user was correct: 
HBO is one of the biggest 
offenders in terms of needless 
nudity. For years, shows like 
“True 
Detective,” 
“Minx,” 
“Vinyl” and “True Blood” have 
exemplified 
the 
network’s 
taste for nakedness, and it isn’t 
necessarily a fluke that its top 
performing 
shows, 
“Game 
of Thrones” and “Euphoria,” 
respectively, also rank highly in 

the nudity department. 
It was watching the fourth 
episode 
of 
HBO’s 
newest 
release, “House of the Dragon” 
(which 
claims 
HBO’s 
most-
watched series premiere title) 
that prompted my reflections 
on nudity in television. Though 
thus far, the series has stayed 
true to original “GoT” lore 
— with respect to incestuous 
relationships 
and 
over-the-
top violence — “HoD” has not 
yet matched its predecessors’ 
appreciation of nudism. While 
prior episodes in the season 
consist of brief brothel scenes, 
it isn’t until episode four that 
“HoD” attempts to make its 
parent show proud. 
While I watched the episode 
with a fellow Daily Arts staffer, 
Swara Ramaswamy, we agreed 
that 
the 
sex 
scene 
shared 
between Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock, 
“Upright”) and Ser Criston Cole 
(Fabien Frankel, “The Serpent”) 
seemed to prioritize reality and 
thoughtfulness as opposed to 
gratuitous vulgarity. We thought 
that the director (Clare Kilner, 
“The 
Mosquito 
Coast”) 
and 
intimacy coordinator (Miriam 
Lucia, “The Nevers”) conducted 
a very tasteful scene between 
the actors, who purportedly 
spent seven months preparing 
for the moment. They worked 
tirelessly 
with 
the 
intimacy 

coordinators to not only deliver 
a realistic depiction of the 
awkwardness and vulnerability 
of sex, but also to ensure that 
the scene was sensitive and 
respectful of the actors. Is it a 
coincidence that the director of 
the episode is a woman? Perhaps 
not, if we are only to take the 
directors 
into 
consideration 
(Kilner herself has explained her 
“feminine approach” to the sex 
scene). It is deserving of some 
acknowledgment, 
nonetheless, 
that we tend to see the most 
nudity in television when shows 
and episodes are directed by 
men.
This conversation isn’t new. 
People have been speaking up 
about the excessive nudity in 
television for years now — not 
because we’re all prudes, but 
because 
of 
the 
increasingly 
obvious surplus of unnecessary 
televised nudity that, at best, 
detracts from the shows at 
hand, and, at worse, promotes 
dangerous entanglements of sex 
and violence. As seen in “House 
of the Dragon,” sex and nudity 
in television can be delivered 
skillfully and successfully; there 
is no excuse for overabundant 
nudity, 
especially 
when 
it 
encourages and exposes both 
actors and viewers to extreme 
and exorbitant portrayals of 
hypersexuality.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts

If you haven’t heard, some 
people (conservatives) are upset 
that people of Color have been 
cast in Amazon’s new series, “The 
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of 
Power.” The series is a prequel to 
“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy by 
J.R.R. Tolkien, which was adapted 
in the early 2000s into an award 
winning film series by Peter 
Jackson. Now, the new series is 
being criticized by some on the 
right for being “too woke.”
In an interview with CNN, 
Brandon Morse, an editor at 
RedState.com, 
a 
conservative 
news site, lambasts Amazon for 
“corrupting” 
Tolkien’s 
legacy 
and universe. He claims that 
the inclusion of Black people in 
Tolkien’s Middle-earth universe, 
which is modeled after Europe, is 
heresy, because obviously Black 
and Brown people never existed 
outside of Africa and Mexico. 
He asserts that inclusivity and 
diversity are attempts to “woke-
ify” the story. He calls these 
changes “perverse” and states, “if 
you focus on introducing modern 

political sentiments, such as the 
leftist obsession with identity 
issues that only go skin deep, 
then you’re no longer focusing on 
building a good story.” In one of 
his many blog posts, he backs up 
his criticism with his credentials, 
boasting, “I’m such a Lord of 
the Rings fan that I’ve read the 
Silmarillion four times and I’ve 
played almost every ‘Lord of the 
Rings’ video game that’s ever been 
created.”
I have never seen someone 
write something more idiotic, 
more childlike (“I’ve played almost 
every Lord of the Rings video 
game that’s ever been created”), 
more devoid of intelligence than 
what this grown man wrote about 
this show. We can break down 
why I believe he is wrong about 
the show, but first let’s go over 
why I care that he sullied Tolkien’s 
name in the first place.
To put it lightly, I adore Tolkien. 
I’m surprised I’ve only made 
one passing reference to him 
throughout the nearly four years 
I’ve written for this publication, 
but I’m here to set the record 
straight. 

Dear bigots:
Read a damn book

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 — 5

Design by Abby Schreck

TATE LAFRENIER
Daily Arts Writer

HBO: Only a naked 
Matt Smith remains

Editor’s Note: A Daily staffer 
is affiliated with Warner Bros., 
but they were not involved in the 
creation, production or publication 
of this piece.
On April 8, 2022, 153 days 
before 
the 
British 
Queen 
Regnant Elizabeth II’s death, 
AT&T’s 
WarnerMedia 
and 
Discovery combined and became 
Warner 
Bros. 
Discovery. 
As 
a consequence of the merger, 
Warner 
Bros. 
Discovery 
arranged a marriage between 
its streaming counterparts HBO 
Max — the illustrious home 
of Matt Smith’s rear filmed in 
cinematic 2:1 aspect ratio — 
and Discovery Plus, a ruthless 
unscripted cable TV swamp. 
However, the company shake-up 
has been dogged by controversy, 
internal leaks and disappointing 
cancellations. In an absurdly 
short period of time, the media 
company cornered its contracted 
artists into considering pirating 
their own work and became the 
latest battleground in a larger 
conversation regarding artists, 
ownership of art and corporatism.
No, all is not well with Warner 
Bros. Discovery.
Newly instated CEO David 
Zaslav cut his TV executive teeth 
on unscripted reality television 
like “90 Day Fiancé” and had a 
meteoric rise, uniting his much 
smaller Discovery Group with the 
gigantic WarnerMedia. Perhaps 
conscious of his unscripted reality 
TV pedigree, Zaslav initially 
attempted to create a narrative 
of himself as pro-artist and pro-
creative. His recent profile in 
the Wall Street Journal includes 
quotes from Zaslav’s corporate 
peers testifying to his financial 
sensibility and support for artists. 
The exclusion of artists working 
with HBO Max and Discovery 
Plus alludes to Zaslav’s priorities. 
Namely: a $55 billion debt Zaslav 
inherited after the company 
merger.
In an opening salvo to defray 
the debt, Zaslav laid off 14% of 
company staff, the majority being 
HBO alums. That decision led 
to former executives accusing 
Zaslav of being anti-diversity, 
given the composition of the 

company’s leadership and the 
demographic of employees fired. 
But the round of layoffs was only 
one prong of many myopic cost-
saving changes.
August 
2022 
was 
an 
emotionally 
crushing 
period 
for staff and creative teams 
working 
at 
Warner 
Bros. 
Discovery. Without any notice 
or communication, Zaslav began 
axing 
programming, 
secretly 
removing content from streaming 
services and deleting social media 
posts.
Most prominent among those 
revenue-driven decisions is the 
shelving of HBO’s nearly finished 
$90 million dollar Batgirl film. 
Variety reports that Zaslav did 
not believe the film would recoup 
production and advertising costs 
and made an unprecedented 
decision to bury the movie to 
claim a tax break. Effectively, if a 
company declares that it will stop 
profiting off of a piece of media, 
it can claim a tax break for its 
associated costs. To clarify, HBO 
had already invested roughly $90 
million into a nearly complete 
product; fans and actors were 
excited about its release. Warner 
Bros. Discovery is not soft-
releasing its product or sending 
it straight to streaming to save on 
advertising. Like a horrible remix 
of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” 
HBO has a fully filmed, exciting 
project that they’re burying alive.
Unless we are very, very lucky, 
“Batgirl,” starring Leslie Grace 
(“In the Heights”), will never see 
the light of day.
Batgirl’s directors, Adil El 
Arbi and Bilall Fallah, found 
out 
about 
their 
cancellation 
through the news cycle. In 
vain, they tried to pirate their 
own movie as a keepsake of the 
film. But the directors were 
circumvented and were locked 
out of the film’s servers. In what 
would become a pattern, El Arbi 
and Fallah released a video over 
Instagram Reels detailing their 
sense of betrayal and the scope 
of Warner Bros. Discovery’s lack 
of communication. At the end of 
the video, they encourage fans 
to watch their upcoming film 
“Rebel” to imagine what their 
“Batgirl” could have been.

ELIZABETH YOON
Daily Arts Writer

Lets talk about excessive nudity in television

LILLIAN PEARCE
Managing Arts Editor

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

By Bonnie Eisenman
©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/21/22

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

09/21/22

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2022

ACROSS
1 Thwack
5 Informed (of)
10 Compensation
14 Tuck out of view
15 Wrinkled
16 Many a univ. 
donor
17 365 days
18 Rub ingredient
19 HBO political 
satire starring 
Julia Louis-
Dreyfus
20 Impractical way 
to get dressed?
23 Barack and 
Michelle’s eldest 
daughter
26 Family room
27 Impatient
28 Lives
30 Cookie fruit
31 Planning meeting 
for the costume 
department?
35 “Stop filming!”
38 Broody sorts?
39 Sir or sri
40 More than dislike
41 Donkey
42 Disappointing 
sign on a 
store selling 
warm-weather 
garments?
44 GPS display
45 Small village
46 Food cart snacks 
in South Asia
49 Texting letters
52 Swerves
53 Really pulls off a 
jacket?
56 Initial poker bet
57 Japanese noodle 
dish
58 Carried debt
62 Appear to be
63 “You __ kidding!”
64 Grow tiresome
65 Jekyll’s 
counterpart
66 Basil-based 
sauce
67 Yields, as a profit

DOWN
1 Bashful
2 Blip on a 
polygraph, maybe
3 Hugo-nominated 
novelist Palmer

4 Continues
5 “One more 
thing ... ”
6 Totally beat
7 Ouzo flavoring
8 Scouting mission, 
briefly
9 Garden with 
forbidden fruit
10 Fluttering in the 
wind
11 Warning signal
12 Ballpark figure
13 Like cans in a 
recycling bin, 
hopefully
21 Doth own
22 Fall flat
23 Anime genre 
featuring giant 
robots
24 Wheel-
connecting rods
25 NFL team whose 
mascot is named 
Roary
29 Punchline lead-in
30 __ and blood
32 “Pull up a chair”
33 Corp. computer 
exec
34 Fuzzy sitcom star 
of the 1980s

35 “The Grouchy 
Ladybug” writer/
illustrator
36 Out-and-out
37 Tries, as one’s 
patience
40 Place of origin
42 Cheerios grains
43 “__ Nagila”: 
Israeli folk song
44 Defiant retort
46 Cymbal sound
47 Bee product

48 Performed
49 Open up, in a 
way
50 Fast-spreading 
social media 
posts
51 Fragrance
54 Hip hop genre
55 “I’m __ your 
tricks!”
59 Pint-size
60 “Mangia!”
61 Many profs

SUDOKU

By Lisa Senzel & Christina Iverson
©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/14/22

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

09/14/22

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, September 14, 2022

ACROSS
1 Spanish tennis 
great Nadal, 
familiarly
5 Upgrade, as 
machinery
10 Uncertain
14 Cabbage buy
15 Glazer of “The 
Afterparty”
16 Skating 
commentator 
Lipinski
17 Analogy words
18 Bridal path flower 
piece
19 Stash, as gear
20 Japanese drama
21 Cookbook 
contents
23 Author Rand
24 Genre for 
composer 
Terence 
Blanchard
26 Informal “You’re 
oversharing”
27 Caramel candies
29 Like some 
dangerous 
isotopes
32 Curry of the NBA
34 Bike part
35 Quintet for most 
starfish
38 Prefix for a 
lifesaving “Pen”
39 Not so big
41 Knock
42 Try to hit
44 Tell it like it isn’t
45 Speed skater 
Ohno
47 Act parts
49 Past the point of 
caring
50 Michelle of “Crazy 
Rich Asians”
52 Neighborhood
53 *Secretive email 
option
60 Uncommon
61 Assertion
62 Cookie used as a 
12-Down topping
63 Admit frankly
64 Omit in speech
65 Spreadsheet unit
66 Soaks up the sun
67 Calf-roping event
68 Diet that’s high 
in fats and low 
in carbs, as 
illustrated by 
parts of the 
answers to the 
starred clues

DOWN
1 Safari herbivore
2 Fabulous writer?
3 *Figure often 
depicted with a 
scythe and an 
hourglass
4 Hubbub
5 Ready for 
picking
6 __ college
7 *Pakistani-born 
chef who was 
posthumously 
honored with a 
James Beard 
Award
8 Up the creek
9 Story
10 Part of FWIW
11 *Serious 
software 
problem
12 Dessert from 
16 Handles, 
familiarly
13 Signs of 
boredom
21 “Wicked!”
22 __ Lanka
25 Sidelines cheer
28 Fertility lab cells
30 Maker of the 
Deep Blue chess 
computer
31 Workout top

32 Bodies of water
33 __ fail
36 Timbuktu’s land
37 Predicament
39 Fine horse
40 Black bird
43 “What’s the 
latest?”
46 NBC symbol
48 Abby Wambach’s 
sport
49 Juliet’s cry
51 Winnie-the-Pooh 
greeting

52 Tolerate
53 Sassy kid
54 Chocolate 
__ cake
55 Waffle maker
56 “Kills bugs 
dead!” spray
57 Hockey Hall 
of Famer 
Willie
58 Hit, as with 
snowballs
59 “Seize the day” 
initialism

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