Characterization and creation. She's thin, she's blonde, she says "wow" a lot. Cassie is depicted as being eccentric and suffering from several mental disorders — most notably, anorexia nervosa — and multiple issues, including low self-esteem, suicidal ideation, and drug addiction, but is gentle-natured and friendly.
Growing up, her father abandoned her and her sister, not once, but twice. When he was in hospital she spent as much time with him as she could, only for him to betray her and leave again. From this, stems her lack of self-worth, her overbearing people-pleasing and her many uncomfortable and twisted breakdowns.
Cassie has deep-rooted abandonment issues relating to her father that cause her to be a people pleaser. She is completely wrapped up in herself and her struggles, to the point where she doesn't seem to realize the power she possesses.
Euphoria's award-winning actress, Zendaya, portrays the protagonist of the show, a teenager struggling with addiction, depression, and anxiety. What makes Rue relatable to the viewer are her constant failures and her depiction of the pain of someone going through these particular issues.
That is what makes Nate Jacob the horrifying villain he is, not some undiagnosed personality disorder! Labeling his behaviour and actions as sociopathy or psychopathy reduces them to symptoms of circumstances when the reality is that they're intended to be hurtful.
Rue suffers from ADHD, bipolar, general anxiety, depression, and BPD – and rather than romanticising her trauma, creator Sam Levinson shows Rue's days stretching out ahead of her: a monotonous Sisyphean struggle with her own psyche. The eroticisation of women's madness goes as far back as Shakespeare's Ophelia.
Sweeney's Cassie is never displaying the same level of emotion as those around her unless it's rage — uncontrollable outbursts of anger being another criteria of BPD. In every scene, she's either displaying a significantly higher level of emotion than others or she is fully shut down, dissociating.
Cassie's main dilemma is that she's sleeping with her best friend's ex-boyfriend. And she makes such a big deal about it. She falls into a depression spiral and treats her friends badly and drinks too much. She throws herself at a man who clearly doesn't want her.
The color blue and pink have a meaning mainly for Cassie. They represent the conventional concept of femininity and innocence that Cassie possesses, but usually when she is in trouble, she's wearing blue. Another color with symbolism is black. This color represents maturity and development.
Throughout the series we see her go through a lot of trauma where she gets used for sex by everyone around her, her boyfriend McKay going through prejudices for being with someone like her and eventually accidentally getting pregnant and getting an abortion.
While people with BPD feel euphoria (ephemeral or occasional intense joy), they are especially prone to dysphoria (a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction), depression, and/or feelings of mental and emotional distress.
Her childhood was twisted with her parents' divorce, sexual advances from family members, parents plagued with substance abuse and lastly, a mother who attaches Cassie's worth to her looks and relationships with men.
At the end of episode sixth, while staring at a box of tampons, she comes to the realization that she is pregnant with McKay's child.
Rather we see her discomfort as McKay shoves her face into the sheets and her shock when he finishes on her back. The unspoken suggestion is,“This is wrong.” Euphoria doubles down on that statement as we watch Cassie tearfully wipe cum off of her back in the bathroom.
Cassie spends three manic hours each morning scrubbing her body, styling her hair to coiffed perfection, and using all manner of bizarre (and luxurious) products on her face: gua sha tools, quartz rollers, under-eye gel patches, even a slightly terrifying, almost Jason-esque gel face mask.
On the show Euphoria, Rue is so depressed that she can't get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Depression can definitely cause a lack of motivation and changes in energy levels, causing some people to do destructive things towards their health.
His ex-girlfriend is a fierce opponent, while Cassie is a pliable target. He constantly dangles the threat of Maddy finding out, sending Cassie into such a guilt-ridden spiral that she forgets to clean Nate's blood from her legs, like an untouched crime scene.
With the support of her mom and sister, Cassie decides to go through with having an abortion after realizing she's pregnant with McKay's baby. Although her boyfriend is nowhere to be found during the whole process, Cassie admits to her mom that she feels much better after having the procedure.
Cassie (who has textbook daddy issues due to her father's abandonment) embodies the hot mess archetype in the eyes of her peers.
n. extreme happiness and an elevated sense of well-being. An exaggerated degree of euphoria that does not reflect the reality of one's situation is common in manic episodes and hypomanic episodes.
Cassie's blackout during her night with Alex wasn't a one-time thing. She regularly hooks up with guys and can't remember their names, or what they talked about, or that she gave them instructions to get into her apartment. She has PTSD hallucinations, in which she talks to dead Alex.
This is a metaphor for Rue's drug use and withdrawal. Rue is implied to live with bipolar disorder alongside borderline personality disorder and ADHD, as she displays symptoms of mania and depression throughout the episodes.
Maddie is an artist diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Romanticization of Substance Abuse and Mental Health
They use her flashbacks, and angelic scenes that make it seem as if her overdoses are her visions in heaven, these scenes are symbolic to the viewers because of her struggles with substances.
“She has seen a lot in her short amount of time, so she's jaded and is imagining herself in the next chapter of her life and is even fantasizing about what it's going to be like to be out of school and have more freedom,” Bivens says. Cassie dressing like Maddy is a joke in the show as well.