“The Idol” Premiered At Cannes And Lived Up To The “Torture Porn” Claims
“Max’s” The Idol premiered at Cannes, probably because the show has got tons of bad press for all of its sexual gratuity and violence. And the verdict is in, and it seems that it really is “torture porn,” but it seems like a lot of people at Cannes also really like that about it? Because it got a 5-minute standing ovation (although, a Cannes ovation that’s under 5 minutes really means nothing) and new showrunner, Euphoria‘s Sam Levinson, cried making a speech about how proud he was of a show with a plot point where a picture of Lily-Rose Depp‘s character with jizz on her face gets leaked online, and she gets called a “human cumsock.” I don’t know; I’m not sure this is going to get Lily-Rose a bunch of awards like Zendaya got for Euphoria. Well, unless the Razzies decide to give out TV awards.
The Idol started out a mess with the original director, Amy Seimetz, leaving the show and Sam Levinson replacing her. Apparently, early episodes veered too far into the “female perspective” and didn’t focus on the REAL star of the show, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye. The Weeknd is the one who came up with the idea for the show, which is about a cult leader guru who takes advantage of a susceptible pop star, played by Lily-Rose. via IndieWire:
“Abel came to us with a pitch,” Levinson said. “He said something that I’ll always remember: “If I wanted to start a cult, I could.” What he meant is that his fans were so loyal and devoted that they would follow him anywhere. That was the germ of the idea for The Idol: what happens when a pop star falls for the wrong guy and no one speaks up.”
I think someone probably did try to speak up to The Weeknd, but he wanted to can the original version of the show anyway and then hired Sam Levinson to make this new, gross, female-perspective-free one. Oh! He meant hypothetically. Critics and reporters who were at the Cannes screening say that in the series’ first episode, Lily’s character, who was hospitalized after the death of her mother, does a nude photoshoot with her hospital bracelet still on “while her agent (played by Jane Adams) tells an onlooker that “Mental health is sexy… stop trying to cockblock America.” via IndieWire:
The first episode primarily focuses on Depp’s Jocelyn, a world famous pop star struggling to grieve the death of her mother. She’s seen coping through extreme behavior such as masturbating while choking herself, before eventually turning to Tesfaye’s Tedros, a sleazy self-help guru who begins to infiltrate her life.
At one point Tedros chokes her with her own dress in an attempt to spark some creative inspiration in her–she is indeed then inspired to remix her new single. In one soon-to-be-viral exchange, Jocelyn’s assistant (Rachel Sennott) says “he’s so rapey” after being regaled with a story of Tedros’ behavior. Jocelyn responds, “I kinda like that about him.”
There’s even a plot point involving a photo of Jocelyn with semen on her face leaking online.
More on that plot from Deadline:
Even Chaim (Hank Azria) is shocked, however, when a picture appears on Twitter that sets the internet alight. It appears to be a selfie of Jocelyn with semen on her face, and its appearance prompts both consternation and an amusing discussion of the word “bukkake.” …It’s a bad time for a visit from for Jocelyn’s rep at LiveNation (Eli Roth), and he understandably is furious to hear that she has been branded “the human cumsock” on social media. (“How are 14-year-old girls going to buy tickets for this when she’s frosted like a Pop Tart?”)
One person who worked on the original episodes of the show was not impressed with the finished version. via IndieWire:
“The original was like a Lynchian or Phantom of the Opera type of Hollywood underworld. The whole thing was a dream… Let’s hope it gets better after the first two episodes–I don’t see how it could get much worse.”
And another audience member was overheard giving a poignant assessment of the series:
“To me, the show is porn,” she said. “Beautiful porn, but porn.” She paused before adding: “I will probably watch the other episodes.”
Others reactions call it clickbait TV and mention how Lily-Rose’s nipples seem to be major characters on the show:
Lots of strong reactions to #TheIdol out of #Cannes2023 — ranging from “I hated it” to “the TV version of clickbait” to “I don’t need to see any more of Lily-Rose Depp naked.”
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) May 22, 2023
So depending on who you ask, The Idol is a train wreck that you can’t take your eyes off of, or it’s a train wreck you don’t want to witness again. But how is Sam Levinson going to top this? My guess is that he’ll finally say fuck it and his next “Max show” will be nothing but clips from xHamster’s actual torture porn section.
Here are pics of The Weeknd, Lily-Rose Depp, and Sam Levinson at yesterday’s Cannes photocall and premiere:
Pics: INSTARImages