Sydney Sweeney’s tone-deaf response to the Euphoria backlash completely misses the point

After two months of relentless criticism, controversial storylines and viewers questioning what on earth happened to Euphoria, Sydney Sweeney has finally appeared to respond to the backlash.

And her response somehow managed to be almost as frustrating as some of Cassie’s storylines.

Ahead of the series finale, Sydney shared a collection of behind-the-scenes photos from her time playing Cassie Howard on Instagram. The pictures included some of season three’s most controversial moments, from her wedding dress to the infamous dog costume.

The caption simply read, “It’s called… acting.”

Right. Thanks Sydney.

The problem is that almost nobody has been criticising the acting

via HBO

If anything, one of the few things people seem to agree on is that Sydney committed fully to whatever bizarre situation Sam Levinson decided to throw at Cassie next.

The backlash surrounding Euphoria season three has been about the writing, the creative choices and the increasingly uncomfortable direction the show has taken.

Viewers have spent weeks questioning why Cassie’s storyline revolved around OnlyFans, humiliation kinks, dressing as a baby, dressing as a dog and a seemingly endless collection of increasingly graphic fetish content.

Adult content creators even criticised the storyline, pointing out that much of what Cassie was doing wouldn’t actually be allowed on OnlyFans in the first place.

At the same time, people questioned why so many of Euphoria’s female characters suddenly found themselves involved in s*x work. Rue was working for Alamo. Jules became a sugar baby. Cassie and Maddy were producing adult content. Even people who weren’t offended by the material often argued it felt repetitive, lazy and designed purely for shock value.

Audiences were left wondering whether Euphoria was still interested in telling stories or simply trying to go viral.

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Chloe Cherry, who plays Faye, questioned the way s*x work is portrayed in the series, saying it felt “crazy as f**k” to watch someone like Cassie turn to OnlyFans and arguing that real-world economic struggles often play a much bigger role in why people enter the industry.

So when all of that criticism is floating around, her response feels like a complete misunderstanding of the conversation.

Nobody is confused about whether Sydney is acting. Nobody watched Cassie dress up as a baby, perform fetish content and crawl around in a dog collar thinking, “Wow, Sydney Sweeney thinks this is real.”

People are asking why these scenes were written in the first place

via HBO

It’s the same problem viewers had with some of Sam Levinson’s own explanations this season. When he defended Cassie’s dog-themed OnlyFans content, he claimed the humour came from the absurdity of the situation and the fact her housekeeper was filming it.

Unfortunately, most viewers weren’t laughing. They were just confused.

To be fair, Sydney has defended Euphoria before. She previously told W Magazine, “I think that the female body is a very powerful thing. And I’m telling my character’s story. So I owe it to them to tell it well and to do what needs to be done.”

She’s also said she’s never felt pressured into filming nude scenes and has even had scenes removed when she felt they weren’t necessary.

But that’s a completely different conversation. The issue isn’t whether Sydney can act. The issue isn’t whether she’s comfortable filming these scenes.

But the issue is whether season three actually benefited from them. And judging by the reaction online, her response isn’t the mic-drop response she probably thought it was.

If anything, it feels like the perfect summary of Euphoria season three: Tone-deaf.

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