The Idol review: Unintentionally ironic and painfully self-contradicting

2/5

Story: International Jocelyn pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) is attempting to revive her career after suffering from a mental breakdown while on tour. She has a chance meeting with a nightclub owner named Tedros (The Weeknd/Abel Makkonen Tesfaye), who helps her reignite her passion for music through questionable and unconventional means.

Review: The Idol has been the subject of several controversies even before the first episode was released. From director, Amy Seimetz leaving the project to reports of a toxic workplace environment. There were even reports of co-creator and lead star Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye wanting the story to be changed as he felt that the story leaned too heavily on the ‘female perspective’. If the reports are true then he certainly got his wish, because the show is the antithesis of the female perspective.

What should have been a nuanced exploration of the exploitation of women in the music industry has been turned into something that glorifies it. The visuals and themes even have sinister undertones vilifying the MeToo movement. Of course, there is no denying that the movement can or may have been misused by opportunistic individuals, but the series indulges in gross generalisation instead of a thought-provoking discourse on the subject. Whether these are intentional or otherwise will remain a mystery.

While the themes and subtext are problematic, it’s the lack of a coherent storyline that brings the series down. To make up for these deficiencies, the series has relied on shock value, ranging from voyeurism, S&M, and abuse. The music that accompanies these scenes glorifies them to the level of disbelief. Showrunner Sam Levinson is no stranger to this, as he has executed something similar in Euphoria. The Idol does build up intrigue in the penultimate episode, but it quickly dissipates by the finale. This is largely due to the contradictions in Lily-Rose Depp’s character Jocelyn. In one scene, she is naive and out of her depth, in the next, she is articulate and intelligent. The viewers are constantly reminded that Jocelyn deserves empathy through provocative imagery, but her character arc offers very little incentive for the viewers to root for her.

The show attempts to be intelligent with allegorical references through its artistic visuals and frames. And to its credit, there has been considerable effort put into making it aesthetically pleasing, but the allegory is a little on the nose and at times rife with unintentional irony. The finale is probably one of the most convoluted and unconvincing endings to a story in recent years. But if there is something positive about the series, it is Lily-Rose Depp’s performance. She has carried the weight of the entire show on her shoulders. And it would be unjust not to give credit to the incredible display of music spread across the season.

Verdict: HBO doesn’t always miss when it comes to producing excellence in television, but it appears with The Idol the studio may have missed by quite a margin. Sam Levinson’s series should have been a nuanced exploration of the exploitation of women in the music industry but instead, it glorifies it.