Macrophilia unpacked as Sydney Sweeney's 'disturbing' Euphoria scene sparks backlash

Another day, and another fetish has made its way onto our screens in Euphoria.

The fan-favourite HBO TV show, which stars huge names like Zendaya and Alexa Demie, returned with a bang last month, with episodes of season three airing weekly on Sundays in the US and Mondays in the UK.

We're now five episodes in, following a time jump, showing the gang post-high school as they end up on very different life paths.

One character who's been dividing opinion among viewers is Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), particularly the show's portrayal of her OnlyFans career, after she turns to the subscription-based platform to make money in the middle of a tricky financial situation with her husband, Nate (Jacob Elordi).

From dressing up as a baby and a puppy to sucking on her own toes and going topless in front of a client, it seems that there's nothing Cassie won't do.

And episode five - titled This Little Piggy - took things to a new level with a sequence of the character turning into a giant and terrorising a city, before she goes topless and breaks the windows of a building with her boobs - yes, really.

Speaking in a behind-the-scenes video, Sweeney said the Godzilla-esque scene was the 'coolest thing she's ever done'.

"The details were unbelievable. There were trees and cars, and the buildings were my size," she said, before adding: "For Cassie, she knows what she's chasing and what she's going to sacrifice to give herself over to Hollywood."

While creator Sam Levinson admitted it took about a year to build all of the miniatures involved in the set. But did you know that macrophilia, AKA a giantess fetish, is a real thing?

What is macrophilia?

Macrophilia is a term that describes sexual fantasies about giant people, giants, and giantesses.

Essentially, it's a niche fantasy where a person is attracted to the idea of extreme size difference.

Although it's quite little known, it seems to be on the rise, and as per Cosmopolitan, in 2024, macrophilia was even named as fetish of the year, with over 6,000 'giantess' videos on Pornhub.

Meanwhile, Metro reported that in February, according to Clips4Sale, it was also the ninth most searched for term in the UK. So maybe it's more popular than we think...

Sociologist Sarah Melancon, PhD, a clinical sexologist and lead researcher at Womens-Health.com, told Cosmo that 'if we consider how often giant and giantess-type stories appear in our culture, it isn’t surprising that some people find these themes erotic'.

Sex therapist Courtney Boyer agrees, telling Metro that it's 'a fetish that often lives in animated, sci-fi, or surreal storytelling spaces where physical limits don’t apply'.

She explained: "Giantess fantasies tend to fixate on a permanently large female figure and the power dynamic that comes with that, while growth eroticises the change.

"It’s primarily imagination-led. Think consensual roleplay, guided dirty talk, camera perspective play (making someone appear larger than they are), or animation. It’s less about the physical reality and more about immersing yourself in a shared fantasy."

Backlash to the scene

Although it is a real fetish and some people praised the scene for its clever camera work, others feel that Euphoria's portrayal of Cassie has gone 'too far', and is 'disturbing,' with some fans brutally dubbing it as a 'humiliation ritual'.

One X user wrote: "They got Sydney Sweeney doing Godzilla porn on Euphoria. wrap this s*** up man."

While a second wrote: "I don't know s*** about euphoria but I do know my mom watched last night's episode full blast in front of everyone. You are not alone in being weirded out by Sydney Sweeney's giantess porn."

A third agreed: "WHAT DID I SEE? What is even happening with SYDNEY SWEENEY in EUPHORIA?? Sam Levinson put every fetish he could think of in the show."

And a fourth added: "This has got to be a humiliation ritual for Sydney Sweeney. They had to pay her good for that Godzilla reenactment."