Double Fantasy

The internet mob has come for this show and I really do not understand why.

First of all Marcél Rev´s photography is remarkable on this and worth noting. Just his photography alone is worth 5 points of rating alone.

It seems to me that most of the people that are giving this such bad ratings have a narrow minded idea of what a motion picture / show has to be. Be it the flow of the show, the dialogue, the explicit parts and the way that the actors interact, this show is different from what people normally expect and it does not mean it is the worse thing ever... The show has tones of nordic (danish, norwegian, swedish) movies, of their weirdness and absurd vibe.

I do understand the worry about exploiting women's bodies, but Depp is clearly okay with it and proud, she understands the piece that they are building and the need for those shots.

Art shouldn't have to meet the rigorous Instagram criteria's and censorship. If people find this too graphic maybe they should press pause after seeing the maturity rating of the show.

I feel like this would have a lot better ratings in a pre-euphoria fandom era, with a more matured audience. I am certain that this is getting a lot better ratings in europe than in the states.

With this said, this is definitely not my favourite show, and I normally do not write reviews, but I do find this rating so skewed from reality that I felt the need to write one.

It does have some not so great parts, but I feel like the show is a good effort at what it is trying to convey.

This was written at episode 2, I will watch the rest of the show.

If you're finding yourself liking this show, you aren't alone. It has imperfections but what doesn't? It's an over the top art house take on a celebrity queen and all her handlers. There's really interesting stuff at play. The music video shoot, which makes up the bulk of the episode was really interesting and moments like this, as well as the photoshoot and video shoot at Jos' house in the first episode, is where the show is very strong and well made. It may be a little hedonistic for some, but I feel like it's all gonna come at a cost.

I also want to say again that I don't think The Weekend is doing "bad" I think for now the character is sort of 1 dimensional, and it's totally possible that may change by the time the story ends: that'll be the more interesting end of his performance, he's Cleary gonna have a downfall. It's the rat tail man.

The Idol is a show that tries desperately to be a provocative and edgy drama about the dark side of fame, but ends up being a laughably, painfully cringey mess.

The show takes itself ultra seriously when from top to bottom it's actually an atrociously pretentious piece of garbage that would have been at home at 3AM on Cinemax in 1995.

The show stars Lily-Rose Depp as Jocelyn, an aspiring pop star who has a nervous breakdown and falls under the influence of Tedros, a self-help guru and cult leader played by The Weeknd, who delivers perhaps the worst performance on any show that ever aspired to "prestige" TV status.

The Weeknd is so flat, boring, un-charming, wooden and monotone that he makes Keanu Reeves look like Daniel Day-Lewis. He has zero charisma or presence, and his attempts at being mysterious and seductive are laughable. He delivers his lines with such a lack of emotion and conviction that they seem to be coming from a teleprompter. His character is supposed to be a charismatic manipulator who lures Jocelyn into his cult, but he comes across as a boring, creepy utterly unattractive weirdo who spouts nonsensical platitudes like some clownish Rasputin parody.

Lily-Rose Depp is not much better as Jocelyn, the naive and troubled pop star who falls for Tedros. She has the acting range of a cardboard cutout, and her character is so bland and unlikable that it's hard to care about her fate. She spends most of the show either crying, pouting, or having sex with Tedros in graphic and gratuitous scenes that serve no purpose other than to attempt to titillate an audience that the show runners seem to have forgotten has effortless access (it's 2023, folks!) to *actual* pornography at all times and will find it odd, not shocking, to witness B-grade schlocky softcore fare in the once-hallowed hour of Succession and the Sopranos.

Depp's character is supposed to be a complex and sympathetic victim of the music industry, but she comes across as a spoiled and stupid brat who makes inexplicably terrible decisions entirely lacks a personality.

The rest of the cast is made up of some very strong actors who been terribly served by the writers. Jane Adams as Jocelyn's cynical manager does nothing but smoke and swear; Dan Levy as Jocelyn's flamboyant stylist does nothing but make semi-lame jokes and wear outrageous outfits; Hank Azaria does nothing but play an ambiguously exploitative father-ish figure with a terrible and pointless 'Israeli' accent and persona... and on and on.

The writing of the show is atrocious, with dialogue that sounds like it was written by a teenager who watched Euphoria and sat down to write, like, a really HOT script about the music industry, dude. The show thus far shows no signs of knowing what it wants to be-- a critical commentary on the perils and damage of pop fame or a cheap pop-sploitation series that simply commercializes those exact 'sins' under the ultra-thin guise of critiquing them.

The tone is inconsistent, with moments that are supposed to be dramatic or tragic being unintentionally hilarious or absurd. The themes are shallow, with messages that are either obvious or contradictory. The show appears poised to *try* (ugh) to tackle issues such as mental health, fame, sexuality, identity, artistry, creativity, morality, spirituality, etc., but will, with total certainty, fail miserably at exploring them in any meaningful or original way.

The Idol is self-indulgent and pretentious, with gratuitous references to pop culture, philosophy, religion, literature, art, music, etc., that are either irrelevant or inaccurate. It tries to be meta and clever by using intertextuality or symbolism or irony or satire or parody or homage or pastiche or whatever else it can think of to impress the audience... but instead of being smart and creative, it all just ends up being transparent, annoying and confusing.

The show is a huge disappointment and embarrassment by creator and director Sam Levinson. Levinson, who previously created the critically acclaimed and popular show Euphoria, appears to have completely lost his touch and and vision whatsoever with The Idol. He has wasted his talent and his potential on a show that is a complete disaster and an utter waste of time. It is baffling how he could possibly have made something this execrable.

The Idol is a show that deserves to be canceled and forgotten as quickly as possible. It would be a mercy for all involved.

Okay, firstly I can see why the show wouldn't be for a lot of people but I don't mind it at all, and it is definitely nowhere near a 4.

In this episode we see Joce struggle to record a music video, she is battling with the music she is singing as she doesn't feel it is her, she wants to put out a song by her and Tedros but the question I ask is that her or is it him?

She is struggling without her mom and this is when her team must fill that void to help her through.

What I am seeing is the whole premise of the show is about a singer who is pushed and pushed and showing the hard truths of Hollyweird, The Weeknd scenes are extremely strange but I feel they are there by no mistake, there are slimeballs like this in the industry.

It's not a bad show, it's weird and messed up but not to the lengths people make out, the sexual dominance tedros shows is the problem and his kinks or is it all a plan? Better than ep 1 and looking forward to the rest.

Ok the first episode was funny but when I introspect about it, I feel guilty laughing because it's dehumanizing. I mean where have we gone when this is how we are entertained? The finger blasting on the couch really over did it (in this episode they upgraded to a glass cup). And now when I see this actress that's what I'll always think of. Are we supposed to feel bad for the character Josselyn? It seems she is the source of all this heated sexuality, she perpetuates it. She commands it with agency, so is she really a victim of Hollywood? Or part of the problem? She actually violates her own legal protections in her contract to take off her clothes of her own free will. Lily Rose-Depp lacks any self-awareness as an actress. Allowing victimization to happen in real time without actually knowing it's happening due to the sake of "high art" -I could barely get through this episode even though I found the first one humorous and entertaining. But The Weekend and his acting was even worse in this one. Every line is empty and filled with conceited amateurishness that it takes me out of it, it's like he's trying to be "natural" by just being schmoozey. I really like A24 and the cinematography but the writing is dreadful and the performances on the verge of hammy. It feels sometimes like they are making it up on the spot for the sake of "naturalness."