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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