Stand Still Like The Hummingbird: What Euphoria Taught Me About Forgiveness

 

Euphoria is an undeniable sensation. Not only is it HBO’s second most-watched show ever, but its highly anticipated second season amassed roughly 19 million viewers in the United States alone. However, this spotlight has put Euphoria under a microscope of scrutiny. As raging Reddit threads such as “I hate Rue rn” and YouTube video titles like “I DON’T LIKE RUE ANYMORE” gained traction, it became clear that Rue Bennett, the series’ main character/narrator played by Zendaya, was the center of the criticism the sophomore season was receiving. 

Rue Bennett, a 17-year-old drug addict struggling with recovery, is the sun that Euphoria writer and director Sam Levinson’s story orbits around. Rue, and the rest of the show’s characters, spent the first season in a whirlwind of partying, drug use, sex, and glitter. The purple lighting, shrouded by singer/songwriter Labrinth’s iconic soundtrack, became the “feeling” that Euphoria was known so well for evoking. The second season, however, strayed much farther away from this Fantasia-like narrative as Rue’s addiction begins to fester even deeper. 

Stand Still Like The Hummingbird, episode five of the second season, is where we see a true breakdown happen both within Rue’s inner circle and within herself. The episode is packed with screaming, fighting, and obscenities, violence — and overall, is painful to watch. I think that her actions within this part of the story is where a lot of the hate for Rue’s character this season came to a climax. Watching a young girl who has hurt and deceived her closest family and friends isn’t the most digestible image. However, the public’s reaction to watching these plot points unfold, however, is very telling of the perpetuation of drug-use stigmatism that so many addicts fight on their path to healing. 

 In the United States, 10.1 million people over the age of 12 have abused opioids in the past year. This fact speaks for itself in the commonality of the problem the U.S. is facing, and when you add in the concern of laced opioids and other party drugs, the scope of the issue widens even greater. Drug addiction is not uncommon. It is not a problem that only one kind of person deals with:. Young or/and old;, rich or/and poor;, educated or/and uneducated, etc. Drug addicts face a world that has been taught to discriminate against them and their journey to recovery. The reaction to Rue Bennett’s struggles with addiction proves this. 

Forgiveness is not an easy task. Looking at someone who has hurt you, or others, and telling them that you understand, is hard to do. However, we watch an eventual acceptance in Euphoria, where both family and friends rally around Rue even after she has caused them harm. If, as an audience, we cannot accept the struggles of a 17-year-old character who lost her father to cancer, how can the real-world drug population of users expect to feel comfortable reaching out for help?

Forgiveness comes with understanding. Understanding comes from a collective effort to destigmatize a global mental health issue and begins to put our efforts toward showing empathy. Forgiveness comes from listening to people’s stories, and not dismissing them based on a taboo-formed opinion. The easiest way to do your part in ending overdoses, drug stigmatization, and harm towards those in need is to forgive. 

 
Rachel Kloepferbatch 10