The Idol

Warning! Mature Content! This following work contains material and themes that may include coarse language (albeit censored due to New Qualitipedia rules), sexual references, and/or graphic violent images that may be disturbing to some viewers. Mature articles are recommended for those who are 18 years of age or above. If you are 18 years old or above, or are comfortable with mature content, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another one. Reader discretion is advised.

The Idol
This just serves as a massive ego boost for the Weeknd and you cannot convince us otherwise.
Genre: Drama Running Time: 52–55 minutes Country: United States Release Date: June 4, 2023 – July 2, 2023 Network(s): HBO Created by: Sam Levinson Abel Tesfaye Reza Fahim Starring: Abel Tesfaye Lily-Rose Depp Suzanna Son Troye Sivan Jane Adams Seasons: 1 Episodes: 5

The Idol is an American drama television series created by Sam Levinson, Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye, and Reza Fahim.

Plot

The Idol follows Jocelyn, an aspiring pop idol who, after having a nervous breakdown that causes her last tour to be canceled, resolves to reclaim her title as America's sexiest pop star and begins a complicated relationship with Tedros, a self-help guru and the leader of a contemporary cult.

Why It's Not Our Idol

1. The show led to controversy even before it aired since Rolling Stone published a review of it on March 1, 2023. The Rolling Stone called The Idol "twisted torture porn" and uncovered the show's deeper and more twisted plot lines. Rolling Stone also went further into the on-set drama and overall poor working environment, making it more controversial.
2. Awful acting, particularly by The Weeknd. But that's to be expected given that he's a musician rather than an actor. Even if it were true, there have been far better actors with more charisma than him.
3. Poor writing, which mostly consisted of an uninteresting and inconsistent plot that feels way too generic, even for HBO standards. This is the same network that had Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, and Levinson's own Euphoria. Not helping is that there are awful dialogues throughout, especially from the Weeknd, such as "Let me catch you looking at her again" and "F**kin' stretch that tiny, little pussy". With the latter becoming one of the most recognizable dialogues, it even has its own Know Your Meme Page.This is a shame since The Weeknd have been critically acclaimed for his songs and albums and Sam Levinson is known for his good writing in many shows and movies, like the aforementioned Euphoria.
4. It has far too much nudity, sex scenes, and shock value, with no apparent subtlety. The entire show had the vibe of a porn video with a higher budget.
5. Unlikable characters like Jocelyn, the main protagonist, the epitome of a pick-me. She craves the approval of others, showing that she has little self-worth. Jocelyn also constantly degrades herself in order to please the club owner, proving the claim we made.
   • The Weeknd's character, Tedros (later known as Mauricio Costello Jackson), is very unsympathetic. He is a very abusive boyfriend to Jocelyn, abuses her friends like Xander, falsely accuses her ex-boyfriend of being a rapist, threatens a store employee, and commits several crimes in the past. And considering the awful acting, it comes off as him being a teenage edge lord rather than the actual abuser.
   • Not helping is that Jocelyn is no better. While the show tries to make you sympathize with her, at the end it's revealed that she orchestrated every horrible event done by Tedros to get her career back on track. It comes off as a giant middle finger to those who believe Jocelyn might be the only likable character.
6. False advertising: Sam Levinson stated in the Cannes premiere that this show has a connected universe with Levinson's own show, "Euphoria", but in actuality, there is little to no connections to the storylines of Euphoria nor any characters from the same show appear in this show (not even cameos and references)
7. Poor Ending: despite what Tedros have Jocelyn put through, they somehow shared a kiss in the end despite both Jocelyn and Tedros not deserving it at all

Redeeming Qualities

1. The Idol theme song is admittedly catchy, even if Lily-Rose Depp was new to singing, which is great for a newcomer to music.
2. The soundtrack is admittedly good since it does have good songs in it like "Famous" by The Weeknd (ft. Madonna and Playboi Carti).

Comments

Loading comments...