How was the first episode of The Idol: awkward and not subtle

Judging by its first episode (Pop stars and rat history), aired Sunday on HBO Max, The Idol it is uncomfortable above all things, something that is not a virtue but it is not a defect either.

Uncomfortable because her narration moves in a sandy area, in which the distance between female empowerment and humiliation before the supremacy of the intriguing male disappears. Let’s check, let’s do recap.

At its start, the new series by Sam Levinson (also creator of Euphoria) shows the back room of the construction of a popstar in the run-up to the launch of a single.

First, Jocelyn (the star in question, played by Lily-Rose Depp) is seen in a photo shoot and following the photographer’s orders to make her face cold, shocked, happy, sad… She’s half-naked, in her own mansion and very comfortable with the general environment, so she wants to show her breasts. But a privacy inspector intervenes to preserve it.

It can be read as self-determination cut short by the police of what is correct or as a necessary corrective for someone who is about to become hypersexualized and become functional to a perennial male demand. Each viewer chooses her own adventure/fantasy, but the awkwardness is there.

A statement from “The Idol”: a mental health problem is sexy

Meanwhile, her assistant Xander (Troye Sivan) and her record manager Nikki (Jane Adams) watch Jocelyn in full exemplary performance, remember that she has just experienced a traumatic episode related to her mother, and confront each other over a moral issue: whether to have a mental health problem increases the erotic charge of the star that they patiently work on.

follow cynicism to full, other (not so) involuntary allusions to the Britney case, excessive flattery and the need to build a narrative in the face of an unfortunate event. It’s just that a photo of Jocelyn was leaked with her face in the foreground. Nothing special, except for the detail that her face is full of semen.

So, Nikki plays into the zeroed gap between empowerment and submission by demanding that her minions somehow position their pop diva as a feminist heroine who doesn’t mind getting cum on her face like so many people in the world do. .

To make matters worse, the chronicler of Vanity Fair to get material for a profile, so you have to show enthusiasm. Enthusiasm, what Jocelyn lacks for not being satisfied with the lyrics and approach of her single. And what pushes her to get arousal beyond the confines of her mansion.

It is on a night out to a disco that he meets Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye), the other central character in The Idol.

Owner of the club, the one with the “rat tail” hairstyle and the shape of Jocelyn’s sandal, Tedros presents himself seductively and with two gestures he already exudes darkness.

As MC, he welcomes Jocelyn to his floor and asks her to dance. Like a Virgin, from Madonna. He knows how to capitalize on her vulnerabilities and, after an extremely erotic approach, he stays there after carnal access in a section of the club.

Jocelyn is saved by her best friend and fellow assistant Leia (Rachel Sennott), who suggests that Tedros has a “rapist vibe”, to which Jocelyn replies “I kinda like that about him”.

As I said, uncomfortable.

And not to mention when in the next meeting, towards the end of the episode, Tedros suffocates Jocelyn with his robe, pulls out a knife and cuts a hole in her mouth while performing his seductive ritual.

Those are the cards played in The Idolwhich so far does not define purposes and only wallows in sordidness.

To achieve excellence, discomfort is not enough.

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