The HBO-drama series has acquired recent attention for accusations of plagiarism.
The hit HBO series Euphoria took streaming platforms by storm upon its release in 2019. The show follows the story of Rue, played by Zendaya, a recovering teenage drug addict navigating the complexities of recovery. Additionally, she deals with the world of adulthood pressing down on the fading world of her youth.
The show released its second season in winter 2022 and is set to produce a third season in the coming years.
Without question Euphoria was a massive success, being critically acclaimed for its characters, acting performances, original score and cinematography. However, it is the cinematography which has ignited accusations of plagiarism against the show’s creator and director Sam Levinson.
These accusations came from Canadian director of photography Petra Collins, who claims that Levinson and HBO ripped off the photography and aesthetic choices she became known for.
Born in Toronto, Collins turned to photography as a hobby, aiming to capture female sexuality and the many fluctuating emotions of adolescence, particularly from the female gaze. After establishing a platform where she could publish her own creative work, Collins began to receive directorial offers, going on to become a collaborator with singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo in her music videos.
In a now archived interview with Punkt, Collins spoke about her experience with Levinson and HBO:
“[Levinson] reached out to my agency and told me: ‘I wrote a show based on your photos. Will you direct it?’ So, I moved to LA and worked for HBO for about 5 months. I created a whole world for it, I did the casting, and at the last minute HBO was like, ‘we are not hiring you, because you are too young,’ and that was like ‘fine, okay, thank you so much,’ they won’t take my version of the show obviously – I was so naive – they’ll just do another one.’ So, it was fine, I learned a lot, it was interesting… And a year later I walked out of my apartment and saw this billboard and it’s exactly what I am, as a copy of my work.”
The resemblance of Euphoria’s visual direction with Collins’ work is uncanny. Collins herself even collaborated with actors from the show in previous projects before filming for season one began. In 2016, a video titled “Love Is So Much!” starring Barbie Ferreira was uploaded to i-D’s YouTube channel.
The video incorporates the striking visual aesthetic Collins is known for: vibrant neon lights cast over a hazy, dishevelled bedroom reminiscent of youth’s emotional turbulence.
Collins shot images of the Euphoria stars Zendaya and Hunter Schafer. She also published a photography book with Alexa Demie, who was also involved in the show as an actor.
Perhaps the primary cause for alarm is the resemblance to Collins’ book Coming of Age, which illustrates teenage life in the 2000s. Iconography from the show’s first season such as the glitter tears makeup bears a strong resemblance to Collins’ work titled “Jackie and Anna (rainbow tear).” The explosive hues of colour overlaying models with distraught, pensive — or for lack of a better word, euphoric — expressions paint the turbulence of growing up and exploring how one fits into the world.
There is irony behind HBO’s choice to remove Collins from Euphoria for being young, since the world Collins claimed to create as well as her creative direction and work leading up to the project were made for youth by youth. Euphoria itself is listed as a teen drama, and despite drug addiction spearheading the array of conflicts in the plot, the show references youth culture and coming-of-age themes, in all their pain and glory.
Regarding accountability, Levinson and the HBO network may both be held accountable. Regardless of Levinson’s own decisions when directing the show, HBO’s choice to ultimately exploit Collins creative direction and ideas is a disturbing demonstration of women in creative industries being prevented by patriarchal institutions from excelling to higher positions of leadership.
Additionally, Euphoria itself has been open about being a direct adaptation of an Israeli miniseries of the same name, with similar characters and plot. What the show has not shared is its alarming similarity to Collins’ aesthetic that she built her career on. The network and Levinson used her familiarity with girlhood from an experiential and artistic frame of reference to produce content without the labour of paying her.
To have one’s work stolen is a cause for distress, but the matter also prompts discourse on the other side of the coin: primarily, the question of authenticity in art. If we are consumers of art, is the art we produce directly influenced by it against our own will?
To date, neither HBO nor Levinson have responded to the accusations made against them.
Art theft has fueled discussion for decades. Regarding Petra Collins and the turmoil with Euphoria, the show’s popularity has brought her style to the mainstream, making it something that can be replicated with ease. The sharing of art as a means of bringing people together is a valuable component of popular culture, but it equally serves as a bittersweet reminder that nothing may truly be sacred.
