On June 4, the premiere of the series "Idol", starring Lily, took place on HBO‑Rose Depp and The Weeknd.
The project was announced in 2019. The first version of the script was written by Sam Levinson ("Euphoria"), singer The Weeknd and debutant Reza Fahim. Joe Epstein volunteered to be the showrunner, and Amy Simetz was appointed director ("She will die tomorrow").
In April 2022, Simetz was fired ‘The Idol’: Director Amy Seimetz Exits Amid Overhaul Of HBO Drama Series / Deadline , because the producers didn't like the footage. I had to redo, according to rumors, up to 80%. Levinson took the director's place and, judging by insiders, changed the concept — shifted the optics from the feminist side of the story to give more screen time to The Weeknd. Anonymous participants in the process reported ‘The Idol’: How HBO’s Next ‘Euphoria’ Became Twisted ‘Torture Porn’ / Rolling Stone about the terrible atmosphere on the set and the misunderstanding of what is being worked on at all. After watching the first episode, it's clear why they were worried.
Jocelyn is a young pop star. One day she meets a mysterious man Tedros in a club. There is a connection between them. It turns out that Tedros is the leader of the cult. He begins to control the singer and manipulates her.
There are series in which a lot of sex ("Banshee", "Shameless"). In some, sexuality is studied ("Sex Education", "Masters of Sex"). The "idol" takes sex and shoves it into every frame, replacing them with a normal scenario.
It seems as if the screenwriter had a terrible spermotoxicosis. It's as if he's writing a scene, and then purely automatically adds the line "And here she shows gru‑u‑ud!". And here the cum is on her face, and here they grab her by the vagina, and here she strangles herself and masturbates, and here her friend is glued in a club, and here she shows her breasts, and here her managers discuss anal sex, and here is a hint of a foot fetish, and we'll also add a joke about bukkake. The first episode, for a second, lasts less than an hour. And it creates a feeling as if he stood in a smoking room with schoolchildren.
The authors of the series actively talked about how the "Idol" scolds pop culture for objectifying the female body and sexualizing the stars. As a result, the main character not only gets naked at every opportunity, but even wakes up as if porn is about to begin. And when she sits down on the sofa alone, it immediately becomes clear that masturbation is about to begin ‑ in the first half hour you get used to the fact that absolutely every scene should have sex or a hint of it. A strange struggle with objectification.
Some of the footage looks like spam on porn sites of the noughties: "Lustful Lily‑Rose Depp wants to meet you, just click." It seems that if Jocelyn does not hint at sex for a minute, then she will die. And she also smokes constantly, and then strange interpretations of these cigarettes automatically arise — all the other frames are forced to see sex.
Obviously, when asked how many erotic scenes to shoot, the producers answered "YES!".
It is clear that the unrealistic success of "Euphoria" loomed before HBO. But it was not only sex, but also a bunch of different characters with different problems — hence the success of the project with a peculiar scenario. But, as you know, "having waved your hands once, you are not a conductor yet" — "Idol" looks like a lazy copying pieces of "Euphoria".
It is completely unclear what the main character is. There is a description from the authors of the series, and there are the events of the first episode — and they do not add up to something unified at all. Before the series, it looked like she was a pop star who doesn't really like her music, suffers from mental disorders and can't survive the death of her mother. In the first episode, she doesn't like her music, but everything else doesn't matter at all.
For example, at the beginning of the series, a scandal pops up: someone posted a photo of Jocelyn with sperm on her face on the Internet. Managers are trying to "sort out" the situation, and, in general, something bad seems to have happened. At the same time, Jocelyn sings songs about sex, happily shows everyone her breasts at a photo shoot (although photographers ask not to do this). Judging by her reaction to the drain, she doesn't care what pictures of her are posted on the Internet.
The scene during which the managers and Jocelyn discuss what happened takes about 20 minutes, but in the end it never turns out whether it made the singer worse or what happened at all. The heroine is molded into the image of a sex icon and pop star free from prejudice, whose image at the same time should be clean. Apparently, the scene was conceived only to show Lily‑Rose Depp with cum on her face.
Jocelyn and Tedros meet at a nightclub. A man dances with a star, after which they try to have sex on the stairs. They get in the way, so they sit on the steps to smoke and have a heart—to-heart talk - and have a conversation in the spirit of "here you are cool." And this turns out to be enough for them not only to have a relationship, but Joss also began to consider Tedros special. Already in the second joint scene, she shares her experiences with him, notes the uniqueness of the interlocutor, and he teaches her to sing — more precisely, explains how to sing sexually.
These frames do not fit together in any way. It feels like someone cut out a dialogue in which the characters got closer, so it turns out porridge. As if anyone can approach this Joss and say that she is special, after which she pours out her soul and shows unreleased singles. It's even harder to understand what's so special about Tedros.
Judging by the trailer and the description of the series, Tedros is the founder of a certain cult associated with sex. He's mysterious, special. But in the series, the hero looks different. His sexuality is due to the fact that he constantly scratches his face. Apparently, it should look mysterious, but in fact it is impossible to get rid of the idea that The Weeknd has irritation after shaving.
The Weeknd has already played in a movie — with the Sefdi brothers in "Uncut Diamonds". And there he was the pop star that everyone wants. It turned out brilliantly. Sefdi understood that he was not a professional actor in front of them, so they built the scenes so that everything looked natural. Simply put, the singer didn't spoil anything because he was playing himself.
In "Idol" they rely on him as a serious actor — and he completely fails to cope with the role. He is given a bad script, and the musician cannot squeeze at least something lively and interesting out of him, because he does not know how. The level of performance is reminiscent of Shaquille O'Neal in "Was the Genie called?".
A couple of years ago, The Weeknd appeared in an episode of American Dad, and the main joke was that he was a virgin. Judging by the "Idol", it's easier for him to pretend to be a virgin than the sexual founder of a cult.
After the premiere in Cannes, Sam Levinson constantly explained what kind of scandal the series would cause. It seems that scandal is generally the only thing this spectacle is capable of. But if you have a gigantic budget (enough for reshoots), Lily‑Rose Depp, The Weeknd, then it's easy to organize the noise. But it's difficult to make a good series, and Levinson completely failed with this. Sex instead of a plot, sex instead of dialogues, sex instead of characters — this is the whole "Idol". But if you are 13 years old, then you will like the series.
