I was on Twitter posting something about Beyond the Battle, only to be greeted by a sensual, almost nude photo of Megan Fox in the “Trending” section, with the subtitle: Megan Fox Got in On the “Euphoria High” Trend With This Cutout Top. Thanks Twitter.
When on YouTube earlier in the day posting a video about Beyond the Battle, a video ad was displayed for something else related to “Euphoria High.”
I unashamedly do not keep up with pop culture and I watch very little television. So I learned today that Euphoria is an award-winning, top-rated show on HBO, which shock of all shocks (sarcasm… this is HBO) is filled with sex and nudity, receiving a “severe” rating in that category on IMDB’s parents guide. There is a trend on TikTok of people walking around in a normal outfit, then showing what they’d wear if they attended Euphoria High School, and they appear in something skimpy. Many of the videos are comical and of men. There’s your news update.
It’s not surprising that a show filled with porn is award-winning and top-rated, another HBO porn smash like Game of Thrones. I know nothing of the plot of the show and frankly, don’t care to. I want to make one brief point about the concept of (lowercase) euphoria, which is obviously a theme in the show and is the bait trying to snag me via Twitter’s thumbnail of the almost-nude Megan Fox.
I can click on that photo of Megan Fox and experience a type of euphoria, and so can you. But at what cost?
It’s beyond clear that our culture is addicted to euphoria, but are we connecting the dots to the side effects?
My wife does not look like Megan Fox. Most women don’t. If I allow Megan Fox’s body type to determine what an attractive woman should look like, where does this leave me in the rest of my life? It leaves me let down and disappointed. It leaves me needing another hit of euphoria because regular life just isn’t getting it done.
If I watch an episode of Euphoria the show, I can experience euphoria as I watch nude women orgasm. But what happens when the episode is over? Well I need to watch another episode of course, because I need euphoria! I can’t live without it so I watch more and more and more. And grow more and more addicted to porn. Our culture is so addicted to porn that the only way to cope with the addiction is to normalize it. We make popular shows filled with porn and award them Emmy’s so everyone can feel okay about their porn addiction.
Meanwhile we are more dissatisfied with reality than ever. Suicide and depression stats are off the charts and for the most prosperous culture in human history, discontentment runs rampant. Not to mention divorce and the miles and miles of broken relationships that litter our lives.
If you are a drug addict and you look at porn, you know the similarities. You know how you need a bigger hit of euphoria to get your next fix. You know how nothing else starts to matter except that fix. For those who are not drug addicts, it’s relatively easy to look at those who do struggle with drug addiction and wonder why they trade in the goodness of reality (their job, their family, their finances, their health, etc.) for something as unimportant as a euphoric brain chemical rush. Yet those looking at porn don’t see how porn is doing the same thing to them. Why one of the main reasons we are so dissatisfied with our realities is because are spending so much time in the fantasy of euphoria. Nothing can match that except more euphoria.
So before you click to experience the euphoria of Megan Fox’s near nude outfit or you watch the next porn episode of Euphoria, remember that fantasy is the opposite of life.
Remember that one of the reasons the grass looks greener on the other side is because that is where you are watering it. Remember that the grass under your feet looks brown and unappealing because you aren’t investing it. Every investment in fantasy (the grass over there) is neglect of reality (the grass under your feet).
The road of euphoria is one that leads to nowhere. It just keeps going in circle after circle, getting darker and darker.
Embrace the reality you have been given. Learn to live in the joy and gratitude of your reality. I can’t promise you that if you stop looking at porn, your reality will immediately get better. But I can promise you that every time you look at porn, you are making your reality worse.
If you are struggling with porn or relational / sexual discontentment, please read my book Beyond the Battle and if you’re a guy and want some community and support to break free of these addictions, please join me in an online Beyond the Battle small group at www.beyondthebattle.net.
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He is:
Author of Beyond the Battle: A man's guide to his identity in Christ in an oversexualized world
Host of the The Flip Side Podcast
Join an online men's small group led by Noah and team at BeyondTheBattle.net
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Thank you for this post. Many excellent points!