The summer of The Idol has arrived…and it’s not looking great.
Since global pop superstar The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) unveiled that he was writing an original television show for HBO in 2021, the show became one of the most highly anticipated new releases. As Abel revealed that the show was focusing on the dark side of the music industry, the internet swarmed into a discussion about the topic at hand. Finally, someone was addressing the exploitation that transpires from insane working conditions, contracts taking advantage of upcoming musicians, and the disrespect shown towards women in the industry. The Idol could have been a truly insightful piece of work that allowed a conversation for change in the music sphere. However…the show has completely done a 180 from expectations.
The Idol initially had Amy Seimetz at the forefront of directing the show, with rumours circulating online that it was all about the “female experience.” With Seimetz’s touch, Rolling Stone reported that the HBO show was going to focus on Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp).,” a troubled starlet falling victim to a predatory industry figure and fighting to reclaim her own agency” from sleazy club owner Tedros (Abel Tesfaye.)
However, after creative differences between Seimetz and Tesfaye, she swiftly left the show with 80% filmed, leaving HBO golden boy Sam Levinson, creator of Euphoria, to take the reigns and rewrite the show. This is where disaster hits.
Now, Euphoria is a very significant show and does an incredible job of highlighting the damage that drug addiction can have on not just the individual, but their support system too. And Rue is by far one of the most significant characters on television right now. But people have already questioned him for his “excess nudity” in Euphoria, which has only been amplified in The Idol.
Episodes one and two of The Idol become a mix of horrifically delivered sex scenes (that scene between Tesfaye and Depp) and a bunch of nothingness. Two episodes out of five in and all the audience has seen are nudity, Jocelyn and Dyanne (Jennie Ruby Jane) fighting for the attention of Tedros (even as far as Jocelyn saying she likes his ‘r*pey vibes’), and Jocelyn chain-smoking like her life depends on it. The female pop stars have no substance beyond their lust for a creep with a rattail and being overly sexualised, despite the show saying they would address the problems in the industry. So far, the only scene that has been truly good was the brief 14 seconds where Jocelyn calls out for her deceased mother in a vulnerable moment, where we can actually see her pain.
The Idol could have been great, had actual women been involved in the production. To speak on the female experience in the industry, women should have been at the writing table, women should have been directing this. So many female artists that The Weeknd has connections to have spoken up about mistreatment, whose stories could have been utilised to craft a brilliant piece of television.
Little Mix has spoken about how they were told to flirt with music executives to get their music played on US radio. Chloe Bailey revealed during her solo era that as she produced her own music, she received no payment for her production as it was her own work. More troubling stories obviously come from Britney Spears and Kesha, who both are two of the most high-profile industry nightmare tales of women being abused by those they trusted. While Britney is free of her conservatorship, Kesha as of December 2022 is still signed to Dr Luke’s record label.
With the feature of BLACKPINK’s Jennie on the show, tales of what happens in the KPOP industry could have been brought to light in the HBO show. TWICE’s MOMO shared that she was once made to lose 7kgs in one week, only allowed to chew on ice while training for comebacks. While in more recent years Chuu of LOONA filed to terminate her contract due to an ‘enslaved contract’ where she would only receive 30% of the payment for her work but had to pay 50% of her own expenses, leaving her with very little reward.
The Weeknd and Sam Levinson had every opportunity at their fingertips to create a show that could still be provocative but actually address the real issues that fellow industry creatives go through. Instead, they chose to go down the Wattpadd and AO3 route of porn-without-plot and appealing to the PornHub demographic. The stories of women in the music industry deserve to be heard, and they were failed with The Idol.
For all the latest, don’t forget to follow the CelebMix account!