The Idol should just be funny

Unfortunately, it wants to be provocative instead. vox.com/culture CULTURE   I was at the Cannes Film Festival last month, where the first two episodes of HBO’s The Idol, about a pop star (Lily-Rose Depp) and the exploitation surrounding her, premiered to considerable fanfare. There are few more high-stakes places for a TV show to premiere; Cannes' imprimatur confers a gravity to the form, and the fest usually only allows one television premiere, with past selections including Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake: China Doll and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return. That’s why The Idol was such a colossal disappointment: tedious, inscrutable, seemingly trying to be satirical but without a clear vision for what it was satirical about. Even more baffling was the attempt on behalf of creator Sam Levinson (Euphoria) and his co-creator and star Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. The Weeknd, to paint the show as some revolutionary, boundary-pushing work of art, particularly when it comes to the sex scenes. Maybe that’s a risky position to take at a European film festival, but it seemed dubious to anyone who’d actually seen it; critics objected less to its “daring” and more to its derivative boredom. It felt like they were trying to Astroturf the perception of risky sexy sexiness into existence with manufactured controversy, and the rest of us just wanted to move on. Anyhow, that’s why it was such a relief to read [Alex Abad-Santos’s exactly correct take]( on the series, in which he proposes that it should have focused on its minor characters (especially those played by Rachel Sennott and Jane Adams), who are both the most horrifying and the funniest parts of the whole thing. “They’re vampires who walk in the Bel Air sun, horrendously greedy and relentlessly disappointed,” he writes. That’s the show I want to watch. –[Alissa Wilkinson](, senior reporter PS: Our Even Better section is starting a monthly column about personal finance. Let us know what questions you might have around the topic [here](. The tedious nipple-core of HBO’s The Idol [Lily-Rose Depp looking wan in a mirror]( Lily-Rose Depp in HBO’s The Idol. There was a time before porn was widely available on the internet when horny teenage boys had to be resourceful. Stealing Playboys and Penthouses from older siblings; ruining their eyesight watching scrambled, discolored, wavy boobs on the [Spice Channel](; mentally cataloging which R-rated movies had nudity; staying up past midnight and tuning in to Cinemax After Dark. Watching The Idol, which premiered on HBO this month, it’s easy to believe these virgin gremlins are exactly who created the hour-long drama. Officially, Sam Levinson (Euphoria, Malcolm & Marie), Abel Tesfaye (a.k.a. the singer The Weeknd), and [nightlife entrepreneur]( Reza Fahim are behind this supposedly “prestige” drama about the jagged, gory bits of stardom. The show premiered two episodes at the [Cannes Film Festival,]( which added to its edgy reputation, while Tesfaye’s involvement invites a meta-narrative, as he himself is a pop star who [has visually and musically]( tried to break and reinvent his image multiple times. The three, however, have [been]( [criticized]( for not creating a show with something specific to say about idol worship or how simultaneously valuable and worthless fame can be, so much as a nipple-forward, soft-core porn series that thinks itself too serious to be called that. [Read the full story »](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The decline of American playtime — and how to resurrect it The world can be terrifying. But we should still give kids the freedom to explore it. [Read the full story »]( The indictment of misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, explained Following his arrest in December, the 36-year-old was indicted on charges of rape and human trafficking in Romania. [Read the full story »](   Support our work We aim to explain what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters. Support our mission by making a gift today. [Give](   More good stuff to read today - [When you can't separate art from artist]( - [How to tell when you're getting good advice]( - [And Just Like That finally remembers what made Sex and the City great]( - [Elemental isn't Pixar's best, but it taps into the studio's superpower]( - [In Lorrie Moore's new book, a man and his dead ex-girlfriend go on a road trip](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe](param=culture). If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved.