“So fucking cringey”: The internet’s verdict on The Weeknd’s and Lily-Rose Depp’s ‘The Idol’
After months of controversy, The Idol is finally here, and Sam Levinson may want to look away now as the reception for the show from viewers is (as expected) rather hostile.
Those who worked on The Idol described it as “sexual torture porn” in a damning report from Rolling Stone, while it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival recently and was severely panned by critics – and now the fans are having their say.
The show follows pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), who is reeling from a nervous breakdown on her tour, the death of her mother and, right when the episode begins, a raunchy photo of her was leaked with semen on her face. The singer has an album that she’s getting ready to release, though she isn’t confident in the first single, where she sings about being a “freak.”
During a night out after her opening photo shoot, Jocelyn meets nightclub owner Tedros (The Weeknd), who she makes out with at the club. While little is known about Tedros in the first episode, he gives off rather creepy vibes, with Jocelyn’s friend Lelia even commenting the next day that he gives off “rapey” vibes, though Jocelyn said that’s why she likes him.
Among the shocking moments in the episode were Depp being nude during a photo shoot, a masturbating scene where she was also choking herself at the same time and the final shot.
The final shot is at Jocelyn’s lavish home, where Tedros says he doesn’t think she knows how to “fuck” because of her vocal performance. He then proceeds to wrap a sash over her face and ties it around her neck to constrict her breathing before cutting a hole in the sash and telling her to “sing now.”
It’s safe to say that the first episode didn’t go down too well with fans on social media, with many criticising it for its poor writing and over-sexualisation of Depp’s character.
“Whoever wrote this show needs to be fired immediately #TheIdol,” a Twitter user wrote, while a second asked, “Why is Jocelyn always butt ass naked, and the dancing is ass.”
Meanwhile, others took aim at Sam Levinson directly. “Just watched #TheIdol and Jesus Christ it’s like a student film with a big budget. Sam Levinson is trying to be deep but his writing is just fucking weird,” said one viewer. Another described the show as “grotesquely exploitative of its subject matter.”
“The Idol is so fucking cringey,” wrote another unhappy Twitter user.
Despite its poor reception on social media, The Idol returns for its second episode of the six-part season on Sunday, June 11th on HBO. Scroll below for all the best reactions to the series.
