Susan Granger’s review of “The Idol” (HBO)
HBO’s much heralded, salacious “The Idol” came and went so quickly that many missed this supposed big-budget backlash in the #MeToo era. The cringe-worthy, now-cancelled six-part series revolves around Jocelyn, a masochistic pop-star played by Lily-Rose Depp (Johnny’s 24 year-old daughter with Vanessa Paradis).
According to Rolling Stone, it was originally intended to be a satire of the music business; instead, it became what some have called “sexual torture porn,” causing director Amy Seimetz, to depart and be replaced by Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”), who co-created the series with its co-star R&B’s Abel Tesfaye – a.k.a.The Weeknd.
In the first episode, nearly naked Jocelyn poses for a comeback album-cover photo shoot on her knees with a hospital bracelet that presumably connects to her psychotic breakdown after her mother’s death from cancer.
When someone questions whether it’s right to romanticize mental illness, record executive Nikki (Jane Addams) chides “college-educated internet people” who rebuke “sex, drugs and hot girls.” Then the intimacy coordinator is locked in a bathroom when she tries to stop Jocelyn from baring her breasts.
Following Jocelyn to a dance club on the Sunset Strip, her assistant Leia (Rachel Sennot) describes the self-help guru/cult leader/club manager Tedros (Tesfaye) as “so rapey.” To which Jocelyn retorts, “Yeah, I kind of like that about him.” The episode concludes with Jocelyn being erotically asphyxiated with a silk robe.
In the subsequent four episodes, it only gets worse; only five were shown before the series was summarily cancelled much to the chagrin of Lily-Rose Depp, who defended her work in Australia’s Vogue as “provocative.”
“I was never interested in making something puritanical,” Depp goes on. “It’s OK if this show isn’t for everyone. I think all the best art is polarizing.”
Problem is: even with its obvious allusions to self-destructive Britney Spears, the plot is too plain, the narrative disjointed and the dialogue dreadful. It’s unclear why Jocelyn would be so obsessively attracted to creepy Tedros or why the rest of the cast would be seduced into his abusive cult. He exudes zero charisma.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Idol” is a tawdry 3, streaming on HBO.
