It’s been quite a few Monday’s since I’ve written about Euphoria, so I’m happy to bring the tradition back. This time around, it’s for a nomination. Maddy and Cassie's fight has been nominated for Best Fight at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards. There’s no surprise that the insanely popular HBO series has been nominated for awards (duh—it’s a masterpiece). But what makes this particular nomination so notable is the category and the company that the Euphoria nomination is in.
When I first heard about the nomination, my reaction was, “as they should,” and here’s why: it was one of the most talked about fights in a show this year. For those who aren’t familiar with the plot, Maddy (played by Alexa Demie) confronted Cassie (played by Sydney Sweeney) after it was revealed by Rue (played by Zendaya) that Cassie has been hooking up with Maddy’s on-and-off boyfriend, Nate (played by Jacob Elordi). The show did a great job of creating suspense before the blow up, and Gen Z ate it UP. I’m talking viral TikTok trends and discourse on Twitter that lasted weeks. It’s all anyone could talk about for what felt like the rest of the season and beyond. So of course, it would be nominated for Best Fight, right?
When I saw the list of other nominees, I had to laugh. Also nominated in this category are Guy vs. Dude in Free Guy, Black Widow vs. the Widows in Black Widow, Shang-Chi’s bus fight in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and the final battle from Spider-Man: No Way Home. This group of nominations obviously have a little bit of an outlier. Most of these are from action movies…with non-humans. Two teenage girls fighting over a boy (who doesn’t deserve either of them) is up against superheroes trying to save humanity from the evil hands of greedy villains? If that’s not a perfect example of the Gen Z influence, I don’t know what is.
A nomination like this tells me a few things. One of them is that the people in the decision-making seats are aware of the impact Maddy vs. Cassie had on pop culture. Yes, it may feel a little out of place beside the other nominations, but if anything, that only highlights its impact. If a fight between two teenage girls can stand beside three Spider-Men working together to conquer their enemies, it must be a big deal.
Another thing this shows me is the true criteria that is used to put nominations together. There was so much build up and potential for this Maddy and Cassie fight, and when it happened, it did not disappoint. Knowing that Maddy, who is very confident and out-spoken, was going to COME for Cassie, who is all talk and no bite, created a great “oh sh-t” moment. Then came the fight, where we saw suspenseful silence, glares that could kill, an attack, and a winner (go Maddy!). It didn’t just end there, though, because we got a second fight in the finale where names were called, and hands were THROWN. It may not have had any cool CGI effects, parkour stunt doubles, or collapsing buildings, but it had all the ingredients for a proper showdown. So even though it’s easy to assume that this category is for action, there is plenty of room for another kind of fight to have a standing chance.
If we’re keeping it real, the competition is pretty impressive this year. Marvel is obviously Marvel, and everyone knows they deliver phenomenal fight sequences (last year’s winner was the final WandaVision fight and the year before that was from Captain Marvel). And if any of you were in the movie theatre like me to experience the electricity of watching the final Spider-Man battle…you’d know it was a one-of-a-kind moment. But as a fan, I think Euphoria has a standing chance—especially since there’s a public voting portal and Euphoria had a heavy social media influence. Besides, Sydney did break a toe while filming, so I think it’s worthy.
Euphoria is a popular contender at this year’s awards, with a total of six nominations, so maybe that’ll work in their favour. However, Spider-Man: No Way Home has the most nominations with seven (also nominated in Best Fight), so it’s going to be a close run (anyone notice the friendly couple competition here?).
The 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards air on June 5th, 2022!
