A recent Rolling Stone article about Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye’s new HBO show, The Idol, has brought to light many issues with the highly anticipated series starring Lily-Rose Depp. The show’s original concept follows Depp’s character, Jocelyn, as she falls victim to a predatory cult leader, played by Tesfaye, and then fights to gain back her agency. The Rolling Stone article, however, suggests that this fresh and inspiring story has now been changed to a misogynistic and overdone storyline of a woman who enjoys being abused by a man with power. This change is due to co-creators Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye (better known as The Weeknd) feeling that the show focuses too much on the female perspective.
The show’s original director, Amy Seimetz, was fired in April 2021 after she had already filmed the approved six episodes. Many crew members claim that HBO made Seimetz’s job very difficult by handing her incomplete scripts, providing her with a small budget but expectations of high production value, and creators constantly changing their minds about the multiple story arcs within the show. Many crew members believe that Amy was set up to fail. This has led fans to believe that Amy was hired purely to be fired so that HBO could be viewed as progressive by allowing the ‘female gaze’ to shine through a female director but then creating a horrible working environment so that she is unable to meet their requirements, allowing HBO to then hand over the title of director to the co-creator of the show, Sam Levinson. Once Levinson gained full control of direction and writing, the show’s original concept that critiques the Hollywood music industry then turned into a misogynistic and dull storyline of a woman in an abusive relationship who keeps coming back for more because it ‘betters her art’. This change happened after co-creator Abel Tesfaye said that the original concept and production focused too much on the ‘female perspective’. Tesfaye claimed the show focused too much on the ‘cult aspect’ and not enough focus was put on the relationship between Tesfaye’s character, Tedros, and Depp’s character, Jocelyn. Crew members have claimed that it seems Tesfaye wants a show that is about him, and Levinson is on onboard with that. The new proposed message seems to fail at showing a woman struggling and overcoming the predatory expectations of Hollywood but instead shows a woman who enjoys being beaten by a man.
This change of concept is then paired with what is becoming known as Sam Levinson’s touch… unnecessary nudity and extreme sexual violence. Even though Seimetz had sex scenes and nudity included in the first production of the show, many crew members have claimed that Sam Levinson’s new additions to the script are extremely disturbing and ‘scarring’. Sam Levinson has a gained reputation for showcasing extreme sexual violence and unnecessary nudity throughout the release of his other HBO show, Euphoria. Many people have criticised Sam Levinson’s disturbing writing that portrays women in extreme pain, usually inflicted on them by men. A rising worry amongst audiences is that this show will, once again, be another one of Levinson’s projects that portray women as fetishised, two-dimensional characters whose story arc involves them being an emotional and physical punching bag for the male protagonist and enjoying it. Based on this Rolling Stone article, it is clear that this HBO show that was meant to criticise how Hollywood treats and showcases women in the industry has instead become another show that adds to this problem of misogyny within Hollywood.
A recent Rolling Stone article about Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye’s new HBO show, The Idol, has brought to light many issues with the highly anticipated series starring Lily-Rose Depp. The show’s original concept follows Depp’s character, Jocelyn, as she falls victim to a predatory cult leader, played by Tesfaye, and then fights to gain back her agency. The Rolling Stone article, however, suggests that this fresh and inspiring story has now been changed to a misogynistic and overdone storyline of a woman who enjoys being abused by a man with power. This change is due to co-creators Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye (better known as The Weeknd) feeling that the show focuses too much on the female perspective.
The show’s original director, Amy Seimetz, was fired in April 2021 after she had already filmed the approved six episodes. Many crew members claim that HBO made Seimetz’s job very difficult by handing her incomplete scripts, providing her with a small budget but expectations of high production value, and creators constantly changing their minds about the multiple story arcs within the show. Many crew members believe that Amy was set up to fail. This has led fans to believe that Amy was hired purely to be fired so that HBO could be viewed as progressive by allowing the ‘female gaze’ to shine through a female director but then creating a horrible working environment so that she is unable to meet their requirements, allowing HBO to then hand over the title of director to the co-creator of the show, Sam Levinson. Once Levinson gained full control of direction and writing, the show’s original concept that critiques the Hollywood music industry then turned into a misogynistic and dull storyline of a woman in an abusive relationship who keeps coming back for more because it ‘betters her art’. This change happened after co-creator Abel Tesfaye said that the original concept and production focused too much on the ‘female perspective’. Tesfaye claimed the show focused too much on the ‘cult aspect’ and not enough focus was put on the relationship between Tesfaye’s character, Tedros, and Depp’s character, Jocelyn. Crew members have claimed that it seems Tesfaye wants a show that is about him, and Levinson is on onboard with that. The new proposed message seems to fail at showing a woman struggling and overcoming the predatory expectations of Hollywood but instead shows a woman who enjoys being beaten by a man.
This change of concept is then paired with what is becoming known as Sam Levinson’s touch… unnecessary nudity and extreme sexual violence. Even though Seimetz had sex scenes and nudity included in the first production of the show, many crew members have claimed that Sam Levinson’s new additions to the script are extremely disturbing and ‘scarring’. Sam Levinson has a gained reputation for showcasing extreme sexual violence and unnecessary nudity throughout the release of his other HBO show, Euphoria. Many people have criticised Sam Levinson’s disturbing writing that portrays women in extreme pain, usually inflicted on them by men. A rising worry amongst audiences is that this show will, once again, be another one of Levinson’s projects that portray women as fetishised, two-dimensional characters whose story arc involves them being an emotional and physical punching bag for the male protagonist and enjoying it. Based on this Rolling Stone article, it is clear that this HBO show that was meant to criticise how Hollywood treats and showcases women in the industry has instead become another show that adds to this problem of misogyny within Hollywood.