Sam Levinson Stole the Entire Look of 'Euphoria' From Artist Petra Collins

By Alberto Cox Délano | TV | October 17, 2023 |

By Alberto Cox Délano | TV | October 17, 2023 |

Hot Take: I don’t care much for Euphoria’s visual style, which is 50% of its entire appeal. Granted, I am a proud Euphoria hater, having previously called it an overrated piece of navel-gazing shit and its creator-director Sam Levinson a glorified pornographer. But there’s something about Euphoria’s entire visual schtick that has always felt empty to me. I don’t want to say it’s because it comes across as pretentious or too flashy. I don’t have a problem with people trying too hard with the visual style of something; hell, in the era of the MCU, live-action Disney remakes, and $100 million series that don’t bother with contrast and color correction, a visual style that tries too hard might be the proper antidote. That’s why audiences fell in love with RRR or Barbie, and for that matter, why they went crazy for Euphoria: It’s visual beauty that makes you feel something, not to mention the first two are good movies. Still, Euphoria does nothing for me. I don’t feel anything watching it and often managed it while doing something else. Meanwhile, I can’t take my eyes away from plainer shows Never Have I Ever or The Sopranos.

My gut check was up to something because nothing about Euphoria’s visual style is Sam Levinson’s creation. Nothing of what made Euphoria such a hit in general can be attributed to Levinson because the entirety of its visual style and the casting of some of its breakout stars is the job of Canadian-Hungarian artist Petra Collins.

I come about a month late to this news, having watched a YouTube essay by a tremendous up-and-coming channel, Final Girl Studios, called “Stealing Girlhood: The Legacy of Women’s Work Being Stolen,” which places the theft of Petra’s imagery within the broader context of men stealing women’s work.

To be clear, Petra isn’t some up-and-comer . At the young age of 30, she became one of the most celebrated photographers and artists of her generation, has done editorial and publicity work for everything from Vogue to Adidas, has directed videos for Carly Rae Jepsen and Cardi B. Better still, she has become Olivia Rodrigo’s main artistic collaborator, directing most of her videos since “Good 4 u”.

But Petra has been wronged, big time. The reveal comes from an interview she gave to PUNKT, a Hungarian photography magazine. The statements she gave have been deleted in the current version, probably because lawyers were called, but the screenshots are faster. Her story is a gutpunch:

Of course, “stealing someone’s aesthetic” is such a vague notion that, for starters, it doesn’t qualify for copyright infringement, and it might as well be one of the main ways artists develop their own visions. But there is drawing inspiration, and there is doing an overt tribute. And then there is what Sam Levinson did. Check for yourself from Petra Collins’ own collection.

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A post shared by Petra Collins (@petrafcollins)

From 2015-2016.

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A post shared by Petra Collins (@petrafcollins)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Petra Collins (@petrafcollins)

Seeing Petra Collins’ work, which informs every frame of Euphoria, I can finally understand why I felt the series’ aesthetic was so empty. Because of theft, first and foremost, but also because Petra is the very definition of an informed female gaze. In the interview, which is worth a read on its own, she delves into her love and fascination for girlhood, coming from a young woman critically examining her own experiences and turning them into art. Art that is simultaneously stunning, deliberately playing with camp, at times disturbing, but always tender to its subjects. Sam Levinson can’t bring any of that to the frame; there’s only a creepy guy behind the camera.

Oh! did I mention that Petra has been working with Euphoria’s stars Hunter Schafer and Barbie Ferreira long before they were cast in it and probably she brought them on board during pre-production?

In response to Petra, someone close to HBO and Levinson stated to The Daily Beast “It’s very widely known that Euphoria is a remake of an Israeli show.” Except that the Israeli Euphoria has little resemblance to the US show other than being about teenagers getting high and having sex with zero adult supervision. It’s more like a gritty Skins.

This is not the only time Sam Levinson has shafted a female creator, stealing their work and corrupting their vision. The question then is, why do we need him? Why does HBO think they need someone who has no vision of his own and is a Me Too waiting to happen to make Euphoria when they could’ve had the real deal directing it, someone who cares about teenage girls?

Alberto Cox suggests we put Sam Levinson and Max Landis in a cage and have them fight each other.