The Curious Case of Cassie

Image via HBO, Euphoria 

I must preface this by saying I have not watched Euphoria in full, but I think anyone who is on twitter (like I was for the last 2 seasons) knows that you don’t need to tune in to know what’s going on. So not only did I think it was unnecessary to purchase a crave subscription to watch it, I also found the themes of the show to be a bit too heavy for my taste. However, I saw a scene from the newest episode and it really intrigued me so I decided what the hell, let’s write a think piece. Feel free, as a fan of the show, to disagree with my analysis. 

Let's get into it.

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Despite being known as the most annoying and surface level character, I actually find Cassie Howard (portrayed by Sydney Sweeney) to be the most complex of them all. I’d hate to add depth to Sam Levinson’s writing but I do find her extremely interesting. 

Looking from the outside, your first impression is that she’s very male centred but I’d argue that she’s actually self centred more than anything else. This realization clicked into place following the scene that provoked this post. 

Cassie and Nate (her fiancé, and a man she pursued and ruined a friendship for) was at the dinner table discussing spending obscene amounts of money on floral arrangements for their upcoming wedding. Nate, as the breadwinner, was firmly against this but Cassie so eloquently stated “I didn’t wait my entire life to have a ghetto wedding” (I cackled out loud at this, absolutely crazy verbiage). She explains that she’ll go to OnlyFans to earn more money so she can give herself the wedding of her dreams. I believe HBO posted the scene on their instagram page, I would highly recommend watching it because her facial expressions are what really made me start seeing her differently. 

Is She Male Centred?

Image via HBO, Euphoria 

✓ Yes, most of her story line has centred around her desire for love and relationship, stemming from her daddy issues - predictable. 

✓ Yes, she has embarrassed herself for a man. 

✓ Yes, she has allowed men to use her body and further disrespect her to fulfill the facade of having the relationship of her dreams. 

✓ Yes, she ruined years of friendship by getting with her best friend’s ex boyfriend. 

All very surface level actions, doesn’t take Sheldon Cooper to understand the type of person who would do this. Textbook obsession with men behaviour, but nothing about human behaviour is textbook. There's always layers to this. 

And judging by the difference in men she’s been with, I don’t think it’s just about wanting the man; it’s about wanting the life. 

Delusion & Determination

Images via HBO, Euphoria 

I promise you those two D words influence her behaviour more than "dick" ever will. 

Cassie has a pretty miserable life, but she doesn’t remain present in her current reality for very long. She has an idea of who she wants to be and what she wants from life, and that’s what drives her. That’s why she has no issue waking up at 4am to get ready. Especially now that she has the possibility of getting the man that’s going to propel her into being this faux person she’s dreamt up. A person strikingly similar to her best friend, who’s also a mess to an extent, but Maddy is confident, beautiful, and adored. What more could a teenage girl want to be?

However, aspirations can fade from being hypothetical to being the only way to escape and feel joy really quickly. Then that line between reality and delusion becomes extremely blurred. I can relate to her and I think you can too. Wanting something so bad and constantly feeling like you’re only a hair’s breadth from it, so you do anything to achieve it. Been there. Done that. Hated it. Ruined my life. She takes it a level further than I would but it’s still the same range of emotions. 

The same thing that propels you to work tirelessly to start that business you’ve always wanted, or go to the gym to get your dream body, or come out at the top of your class, is the exact same thing that drives Cassie. Now to the point of selling her body to afford the wedding of her dreams. And I know you’re gonna say she’s being superficial and she’s using this drive on unproductive things but I’d disagree. In her head the delusion of a life with the perfect man, and the perfect house, and the perfect wedding holds the exact same power as any of the aforementioned goals. So hold on before you judge her aspirations.

Our Marriage, My Wedding 

Image via HBO, Euphoria 

There was a point in the scene where I felt like I saw Cassie in a completely different light than I did before. 

I think all women have gone through the male-centred phase, society demands it! So we all know what it’s like to want to keep a man completely happy. Suppressing our feelings and desires just to keep him, putting him on a pedestal where he is the source of your joy.  Absolutely horrendous phase actually, but that’s a post for another day. 

Sitting at that table, she was absolutely the one in power. When Nate said there’s no way she’ll be selling her body online I was fully expecting her to cower and make the limited budget work. But she gave a very non-humorous smile and asserted that she didn’t give a single fuck about what he said. She’s getting that wedding, at any cost. I won’t get into the empowerment (or lack thereof) of selling yourself as a woman, but no male centred woman would assert themselves like that especially on a topic where the man’s input is valid. 

She’s not male centred, she’s Cassie centred and I think that’s far more interesting. I don’t have twitter anymore but I’m excited to see (through Instagram reels clips) where they take her character. 

Do you watch Euphoria?