The Idol premiere: HBO’s hollow spectacle of sex and pop music
Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd star in Euphoria creator Sam Levinson's (so far) skin-deep series
TV Reviews HBO
How do you begin to talk about a show that preemptively thinks it knows what you’ll say about it and frames its every story and character beat around a self-aware vibe that, presumably, leaves you open to being heckled for “not getting it”?
That’s mostly a rhetorical question since I don’t really want to give The Idol such credit. But self-awareness does seem to be the guiding framework for HBO’s latest buzzy show from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. At every turn, this show, about a young pop starlet navigating the world as an oversexed star who’s about to relaunch her career following what no one on her team wants to call a mental breakdown, stages conversations meant to foreclose any kind of criticism. This pilot episode—all about how a viral image of Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) with cum all over her face may affect the rollout of her upcoming single and tour—constantly winks and nudges at us that it knows just how thorny and vexing talk about shame and agency operate in this kind of world. And yet, it all adds up to a rather hollow spectacle not nearly as smart or as edgy or as insightful as the show knows itself to be.
“What is the image saying?”
The line is spoken near the start of the episode while Joss, in just a robe she keeps opening up to showcase her breasts, is posing for what will become her album cover. And indeed, it’s an image of Joss that opens the series. A close-up, in fact, where actress (Depp) and pop singer (Joss) alike are called to perform “sexiness” for an unseen audience. As Levinson, who wrote and directed the episode, opens up the frame and we see the many bored crew members all around her, the question is uttered by those in Joss’ team who are being called to voice exactly what those of us watching would wonder.
Is the image saying that here is a pop star taking ownership of her body, her desires, her wants? Is that why she wants to do away with the intimacy coordinator, who really is just getting in the way of her showing us her body?
Or is the image saying that here is a manicured, manufactured dream scenario where a young woman’s bodily autonomy is necessarily co-opted by those around her with more power who have in turn made her feel like she has agency—even if it is only wielded to promote a sexualized vision of herself?
Or is the image saying, alongside lines like “mental illness is sexy” and references to Sharon Tate, that Joss really is a victim here of a system that’s merely being depicted and not—and how dare you suggest even such a thing—being reified by the very dialogue and imagery here being (re)presented.
Of course, when the episode shifts from the perfectly produced image of Joss as a sexy pop star (decided on by photographers, managers, label executives, PR teams, etc.) to an actual image of Joss as a sex-having young woman (that cum-filled selfie), The Idol shows its hand and isn’t able to make a clear distinction between one and the other. Joss’ team immediately works to spin that incident as revenge porn (used here as a buzzword; few actually engage with that might mean) and hope to leverage the exposure to turn the singer, who’s still reeling from losing her mom to cancer, into a feminist icon. (“I’ll start with victim and go from there,” says Joss’ publicist, played by Dan Levy.) It’s ultimately all about optics. About what the image might say. And what talk of the image might also reveal.
It’s all very meta and all very exhausting. Especially once Hari Nef as a Vanity Fair profile writer shows up and forces every other member of Joss’ team to expound on the ways The Idol wants to have its cake and eat it, too. By the time Joss rehearses the dance for her single “World Class Singer” and we’re assaulted with sl0-mo close ups of Depp slapping her ass while lyrics like “I’m just a freak yea, so show me why you came?” score the scene, it’s clear the show is endlessly going to do that thing where it over-determines every scene and choice.
“I love how referential it is.” That’s Nef’s Talia, calling out how the choreography is basically a Britney Spears callback—an obvious instance of the series wanting to get ahead of a comparison we’d all be making anyways. Later still, Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” playing at a club and Sharon Stone in Fatal Attraction playing on a TV will further add to the many blond bombshells The Idol wants to rope into its audiovisual constellation.
And so, rather than merely give us, say, the story of a Britney-esque pop star who’s struggling with mental illness and who’s working her way through how to own her music and body within a sexist industry that would allow (or encourage) her own exploitation (but it’s not exploitation if it’s her choice, right?), The Idol wants to have endless seminar discussions about what such a show can be.
We even get a TED Talk on how pop music is actually not superficial (I mean, have you heard of Prince?) courtesy of the other main character in the show: Tedros (played by The Weeknd, no, I’m sorry, Abel Tesfaye). For just as Joss decides the best way to deal with her infamous viral fame is to head to a fancy nightclub, she meets a man with a rattail who mesmerizes her with…well, it’s unclear. Lines like “Are you dangerous?” I guess work as pick-up lines sometimes. Eager to find someone who’ll be honest with her (even her best friend-turned-assistant has become a bit of a Yes (wo)man!), Joss gravitates toward Tedros—even inviting him to her house where she’ll play him her new single in utter embarrassment.
His one note? She doesn’t sound like she can fuck. And it’s clear that’s what he’s there to show her, which is why he indulges in some erotic asphyxiation play (which we already knew she loved by a very porn-ready scene earlier in the episode). “Now you can sing,” he coos as she orgiastically shivers underneath him while breathing in air from the gap he’s just torn in the makeshift mask he’s trapped her in (with her robe, no less).
It’s all a lot and yet not enough. Skin-deep when it thinks it’s being profound. Almost like The Idol wants to be a hot-take discourse machine first and a television show second. But I guess we’re now in this journey together for the next few weeks. Let’s see how many more times Levinson & Co. can flaunt just how provocative they’re being.
Stray observations
- Do we think the intimacy “America’s cockblock” coordinator was eventually let out of that bathroom?
- She may be saddled with playing the straight man to everyone else’s bonkers characters but my god Rachel Sennott is a star. (Everyone’s seen Shiva Baby, correct?)
- Casting is across the board fantastic. (Roth is pitch perfect as an exasperated Live Nation exec; Jane Adams makes all her cringe lines feel authentic; Troye Sivan and Jennie Kim feel like apt figures to flesh out the show’s interest in pop-music imagery; Da’Vine Joy Randolph deserves the world—though I hope that, between this and Lost City of D she’s not being reduced to bit parts and gets her chance to shine again in a lead role.) The less we talk about Hank Azaria’s weird accent, the better, though.
- Is “World Class Sinner” a bop?
- Do we think Levinson chuckles to himself when he writes a line like “How are 14 year olds gonna buy tickets to this when she’s fucking frosted like a pop tart?”
- Never fucking anyone with a rat tail feels like a good enough rule to live by, no?
69 Comments
This show is so, so bad. It’s weird because outside of Jocelyn and the Weeknd’s explicit, uncomfortable scenes, I’m actually vaguely interested in the other characters.This show also wins the “female character that’s so clearly written by male writers as part of his sexual fantasy” award.
What a brave important comment.
I mean, most people seem to agree with the poster and is the highest rate comment, so in context of this article, it is the most voted on, and therefore the most important. Nice of you to point it out though!
Yes 28 dumb people agreeing with something in comment section is evidence of that comments objective correctness. Genius take.
The Butthurt is Strong with This One….
So you’re the giant douche around here. Good to know.
Brave coment.
Lol! It’s 46 people now. I guess you still probably think they’re all just “dumb” and you’re the only smart one here. Am I right?Get fucked, chode! You worthless fucking trash. All you do is repetitively say the same shit on every post, so you’re not even a clever or creative troll. Just some sad unloved loser in a basement who has to clean his own prejac jizz off his keyboard before his mom gets suspicious.
I’m definitely smarter than you. Nevertheless, what a brave comment on your part. Really groundbreaking stuff.
We’re all laughing at you.
Look how hard you’re trying to be a part of something lol.
And yet, it’s somehow better than the zero people who give a fuck what you have to say.
Nah, that’s not true.
That person just posts “so brave” to everything because they haven’t found a new meme in 10 years, just ignore him. His next move will be to call you dumb, ugly, and fat, because that’s where his brain and vocabulary cap out.
Recoeg is your typical factory-setting conservative obsessive, whose name is a parody / dig / something I’m sure makes sense in their mind of another poster who I don’t think has been here in months. Don’t attempt conversation with it.
Recoegnitions head is more full of farts than mine ever was.
>“female character that’s so clearly written by male writers as part of his sexual fantasy”You should watch Euphoria sometime then.
Sharon Stone in Fatal Attractiontry again
Is this actually a show? The only evidence I have of this existing so far are photographs from a disposable camera.
Sounds fucking boring
Sharon Stone in “Basic Instinct” or Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction”?
Not only that, but is it “World Class Singer” or “World Class Sinner”?
“Roth is pitch perfect as an exasperated Live Nation exec.” Who is Roth?
Eli Roth
Apparently Eli Roth, mentioned nowhere else in this article.
Should have been Tim Roth. Eli seems like he would be jumping right in.
Lol, exactly. I scrolled through the article a few times thinking, “Please tell me Tim Roth isn’t wasting his time with this trash.”
Pre-law, pre-med. Same thing.
It was Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct playing on the tv in the first episode.
I knew this show was bad when I read an article about it with lots of quotes from Hari Nef along the lines of ‘SAM LEVINSON IS AN ARTIST AND THIS IS ART AND ONLY STUPID PEOPLE DON’T GET ART’
dang I usually think hari nef gives some pretty thoughtful takes. girly think she owes this creep something.
Sounds like you hate this show because you’ve been told to hate it. The actual review doesn’t mesh with a D grade.
Yeah I feel like a lot of the reviews I’ve seen from this show are just big mad because maybe Twitter told them to be (reason #1023 why I dumped Twitter). I thought is was fine. Didn’t really do much for me, but Levison’s style elevates it some IMO. I dunno, maybe I’m simple but I think there’s some interesting threads in there i.e. when does a pop star get to choose to be anything, including sexualized.
Really? I think it’s pretty clear the review is negative towards it. I guess if you maybe only read stray observations(the most positive part of the article) you’d come away with that. Words like “endless” “exhausting” “show it’s hand” “skin-deep” And no mention of the quality(or lack their of) of the two leads.It’s a rare piece of AV Club review that isn’t filled to the brim with snark
The show is boring and literally nothing happens in it but the few intentionally ‘shocking’ things they already leaked to the press before it aired. There just isn’t anything to say about it and since only ‘shocking’ things happen or nothing happens every complaint sounds like a critic is offended or a prude. It’s 2023 seeing some too skinny celebrity spawn pretending to choke herself and masturbate at the same time isn’t shocking but it is insulting to viewers to pretend that the show seems to think it this anything other than softcore porn since the character has no discernable personality or motivations. There was a five minute scene of that takes place between him ringing her door bell and them actually being in the same room. Literally five minutes straight of him checking himself in the mirror and her changing her shoes and smoking a cigarette. What can you say about that other than it’s just D grade, bad television?
Fair.
https://tenor.com/view/lethal-weapon-danny-glover-too-old-for-this-shit-gif-21707663
Sharon Stone wasn’t in Fatal Attraction.
Shhhhh…he’s a on a roll.
Other way around.
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
I think he means Basic Instinct.
It wasn’t very good
Is The Weeknd supposed to be…sexy? I’m not trying to be mean, he’s not ugly, but he seems like the type who swims with his shirt on.
Well, he’s certainly powerful, because everybody’s working for him.
I feel like a lot of this proceeds from The Weeknd insisting that he is handsome and charismatic when he is neither. You can sing bro, be happy with that.
I looks so god damn oily in this show. I felt physically repulsed by him.
The question of whether a woman 1. being hypersexualized for star / economic reasons is empowering if chosen by her; 2. is perhaps deluding herself that she’s choosing to be sexualized as opposed to just accepting it as the cost of fame; or 3. being manipulated into believing 1. is a very interesting conversation. That this show doesn’t appear prepared to handle.
At the very least it seems like an interesting conversation that should be led by and moderated by women.
To be fair, Sam Levinson thinks he’s great at writing female characters…And that he’s “basically an ally” because sometimes, when an actress is brave enough to say “no, i don’t want to be nude” he apologies and just does it again down the line, to some other actress who maybe won’t be. HERO.
I’ve seen plenty of scraps over at Jezebel on this topic to feel like this is an entirely subjective topic. Institutionalized sexism or women taking control of their own sexuality?
It’s not really all subjective. You have clear-cut cases like Madonna’s SEX book and Beyonce’s recent works where there’s no question about whether the artist made those choices not heir own and had the agency, power and clout to truly control how they express their own sexuality.
I VERY much question Beyonce’s recent works and whether or not she has any agency at all the woman is a walking puppet who isn’t allowed to speak in public. Beyonce is not allowed to do interviews unless the questions are pre-approved and she will not speak on camera unless it is scripted or rehearsed. They do this to pretend she has some sort of mystique but those of us who are longtime fans remember she always sounded dumb as a box of rocks when they did let her talk and suddenly since she stops speaking in public we’re supposed to believe she could carry on any sort of meaningful conversation about feminism? She’s what they wanted Britney to be, seen and not heard.
i really didnt expect much from “johnny depps daughter and The Weekend in a show.”
This is the first time something was so bad it actively upset me that I spent time watching it. This show disappears up its own ass so thoroughly. And I don’t know why they made the choice to have Lily Rose Depp smoking in every scene but it really makes her come off as a spoiled asshole.
Trash for trash’s sake. Gag.
Hank Azaria was doing an Israeli accent. I didn’t find it “weird,” considering his character’s name was Chaim.
I’m disappointed in Daniel Levy for being in this show.
lol you don’t even know what movie sharon stone is in. when did dissecting shows instead of enjoying them become so mainstream? the dialogue at the beginning was excellent and i am interested to see if she sings better now lol. i mean did you trash euphoria this hard?
A reviewer’s job is to dissect, not enjoy.
a reviewer that doesn’t even know movie basics. they ain’t no critic, they another voice in a sea of voices that don’t really say anything at all.
And yet, I’d be fascinated to see what Amy Seimetz’s version of this series would have been like.
That, to me, is the version of this I really want to see. A lot of plot not involving Depp or Tesfaye isn’t terrible.
It must’ve been doing something right, if a pretentious dolt like Tesfaye thought the whole thing needed to be reshot so it focused less on women.
Find someone who loves you as much as woke twitter hates this show
I tried the first 15 minutes but it was too badly written to go on. Felt totally pointless. I think Levinson thinks he’s pulling a NWR vibe, but it’s just flat and boring and full of lifeless, pointless characters.
I love Euphoria and Assassination Nation so I was hoping this would be good, but it was shockingly boring. Seems to think it’s a lot smarter than it really is and just comes off as pretentious with some genuinely awful dialogue. They also put no effort at all into why Depp’s character would be interested in The Weeknd, he came off as lame and creepy not mysterious or alluring. I’ll give it another chance but it’s definitely off to a dull start.
The biggest problem I had with it is that it is boring. Not sexy or provocative or problematic or over the top or whatever they were going for it is just a dull show that’s only highlight in having cast some likable people in small roles. I also think both Lily-Rose and Abel are bad actors with zero chemistry but the show is at least successfully using her bad acting in its favor. There is a difference between a character being sexy and a character trying to act sexy and both should be different than the actor playing the character trying to be sexy for the camera and they are both constantly on the wrong side of that line.
A pilot episode should serve as the thesis statement for the entire show. The thesis for The Idol is something about fame, sex, exploitation, and the cult of celebrity? What is the message we are supposed to take away? What is the perspective of this show on the actual events? Are we supposed to be disgusted or mesmerized or both? I was outright repulsed by The Weekend. He is oily and rapey. Joc could be an interesting character if she wasn’t literally covered in male fantasy (cum and the red rob). The side characters could be wildly entertaining. I will probably keep watching. I would give this pilot a C-.