Boring and sleazy: The Idol is just male fantasy and lazy writing
The hotly-anticipated, controversial and scandal-hit drama The Idol has released its first two episodes. From the creator Euphoria, Sam Levison’s sleaze-fest is bad, really bad.
The Idol tells the story of troubled pop star Jocelyn, who is struggling after a nervous breakdown following the loss of her mother. She’s attempting a ‘comeback’ when she meets Tedros (played by The Weekend) who’s working his way into her life. The story is set to explore the relationship between the two, with Tedros being a self-help guru and cult leader, who by episode two has already made plans to move into Jocelyn’s mansion.
It’s evident from the beginning that the show will be jam-packed with misogyny, exploitation and abuse. The first two episodes have an unnecessary amount of nudity, to the point that it feels completely unrealistic and more male fantasy. I mean how many women really sleep in a thong?
One of the major underlying issues with the first two episodes is the main character does not seem believable. She doesn’t speak or behave like a real person, making her a difficult character to care about. At one point, when asked about a potential romantic interest in Tedros (played by The Weekend) Jocelyn’s friend says: “He’s so rapey” to which Jocelyn replies: “Yeah, I kind of like that about him.”
How are people still writing female characters like this in 2023?
With this sort of writing, it’s no surprise reviews have been bad. The Independent said “I can’t believe people are still writing female characters like The Idol in 2023,” the Guardian accused it of “single-handedly resurrected torture porn” whilst Variety claims the show “plays like a sordid male fantasy.”
Rolling Stone, who published the expose article about the many controversies of the show months earlier, described the show as being “more toxic and way worse than you’ve heard.”
Beyond the sleaze-fest, many other critics point out the poor acting (mostly by The Weekend) poor storyline and just how boring and substance-starved the show is.
If you’ve watched the show- or read any of the reviews, you won’t be surprised to find out that the majority of the show was written by men. According to IMDB Levinson, Tesfaye (The Weekend), Reza Fahim and Joe Epstein did the majority of the scripting, with Neon Demon writer Mary Laws being credited on an “unknown number” of episodes, and Clara Mamet being credited as a story editor for one.
But the show wasn’t originally written through the male gaze.
The Idol has been scandalous long before it dropped on MAX. In March, Rolling Stone published an article about allegations of a toxic set environment, as well as delays, rewrites, and the circumstances under which the then director, Amy Seimetz, suddenly left the project. It’s believed she left the show because The Weekend, who’s a co-creator, felt it was leaning too much on a “female perspective.”
Yep, you read the right, a show with a female lead, touching on serious topics such as grief, isolation, fame and mental health, was somehow too heavily focused on the “female perspective.”
There is no deep meaning, it’s just lazy and packed with really bad acting
Luckily for The Weekend, there is no female perspective in this new version of the show. Some might say that’s the point – to show the seedy underworld of the music industry, an industry where those pulling the strings are still mostly male, and the female perspective is non-existent. But it doesn’t translate in these first two episodes as Jocelyn is reduced to nothing more than a male fantasy.
The Idol is a sleaze fest of lazy writing and boring tropes. There is no deeper meaning, it’s just lazy and packed with really bad acting.
It’s grim, boring, and slow. It gives the viewers little reason to care about any of the characters and Tedros doesn’t come across as a mysterious cult leader, but instead, as a creep whose intentions are obvious.
There are still five episodes to go but unless there is a drastic shift in every aspect of the show, it’s not worth the 50-odd minutes of life. It would be interesting to find out what the original show was about – hopefully one day we’ll have the answers.