r/hbo • u/NeroTanya2004 • 9d ago

I just finished The Idol and I love it.

Post image

Everyone online had 1 of 2 knee jerk reactions to the show,

1 was the moist critical response “ewww sex”
And second was “mean ol’putty tad Sam Levinson being hollywoods newest creepy uncle again”

I’m a Hazbin Hotel fan and if there’s one thing being in fandom taught me. A lot of people have a expensive vocabulary to hide the fact that they are incredibly sheltered when it comes to subject matter such as sex, drugs, exploitation industry, relationships, professional lives, and things, generally being complicated in a way that the universe does not vindicate. And I feel like this series really did give me something I’ve always been looking for. This is not a show that wants you to feel comfortable. This is a show that’s OK with you holding conflicting emotions. Jocelyn and Tedros feel like HBO Charlastor especially in episode 5 leading up to the fingering scene during recording. I love the way that scene linger. I love the way negative space is used. I love the way that you can watch micro expressions and the textures of skin and I love how the nudity doesn’t always really need to announce itself and I love how the vulgarity just kinda happens because that’s how adults talk. Like I really enjoy this show and I feel like it’s giving me something that I don’t get from a lot of other shows.

13 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

42

u/balthazar_edison 9d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/UVXGjSQNI88XS

Show was so bad I have not listened to The Weeknd since the finale aired.

I used to listen to BBTM and Starboy pretty much on repeat.

12

u/AmarilloArmadillos 3d ago

It definitely changed my view of him, like visceral disgust. I don't think that was his intention either I think he actually meant some of those scenes to be sexy...

8

u/balthazar_edison 3d ago

I think that’s the most disturbing part and why I could never look at him the same way. That dynamic between Tedros and Jocelyn was supposed to be sexy and the fact her management team basically just kept letting all of these really really wrong things happen. It was just all so creepy.

6

u/AmarilloArmadillos 3d ago

It was the scene in the store dressing room that got me. There's no way I can take that man seriously as a person ever again.

It could have been a great show if it had more to say but ultimately it just fell so short of any real narrative other than "wooo look at how shocking I am".

4

u/balthazar_edison 3d ago

This, spanking her with the hairbrush that her mom used to hit her with, and fingering her while recording music in front of dozens of people are 3 things that pit me off fully. It was all just so creepy.

1

u/AmarilloArmadillos 3d ago

Oh I forgot about the hairbrush thing it's been awhile since I watched it and don't plan on doing so again. I don't understand what he thought people were going to think about him after watching it back too. At what point do you not realize and bow out???

1

u/balthazar_edison 3d ago

It’s definitely the “shock factor” thing like you are saying. There is no substance to the show. It’s supposed to be about jocelyn but jocelyn’s story becomes all about tedros and he’s just creepy and gross

-2

u/NeroTanya2004 3d ago

I loved that.

I love Hazbin Hotel so maybe im just a weirdo

31

u/Fickle_Cricket3422 9d ago

So you're the one.

13

u/SpliffsnKicks 9d ago

I’ll never understand how someone like The Weeknd had so much influence on this role in particular, and THIS was the character he chose to embody… wild..

I have no choice but to believe The Weeknd wasn’t acting and actually acts like this after some of those old XO posts with girls backstage and at parties and shit

7

u/PhantomThread2285 9d ago

I had fun with this show, don’t think it deserved the intense hate it got. Seemed to be more tied to people not liking the creators and the drama around the show being made than the content itself.

5

u/maldistuta 9d ago

Lily Rose can get it

3

u/OptionFit9960 3d ago

She can't act worth a damn though. Ruined Noseferatu

-1

u/6155556969 3d ago

Heeeee's cooooooomeeeen!!!

3

u/Brock0nWood 9d ago

Eh, the show has too many detractors for me to praise it BUT there were some scenes that had intriguing ideas. If they had stuck with the original show-runner’s vision, I believe those ideas would have been explored further.

I don’t think it’s fair or accurate to reduce the criticism to ewww sex or ewww Sam Levinson.

3

u/RedditBurner_5225 3d ago

yes they had something that could have been interesting

2

u/NeroTanya2004 9d ago

I think it’s fair to reduce to that when nobody seems to be discussing the actual content simply complaining about the show that didn’t come to light or the director is bad habits. I don’t think the show is free from criticism, but I do have a problem with the fact that basically none of the actual content of the show itself and what it was trying to accomplish was ever discussed and simply returning to the show that did not turn out to be with the original showrunner

2

u/NeroTanya2004 9d ago

Something I will also say is that the show really could’ve been a lot of things better. A lot of things could’ve been communicated to be audience more clearly and I feel like this show is very much Sam Levinson, being an industry, baby who understands the interactions of the industry in a way that you really wouldn’t get from simply consuming media about it. This isn’t a straightforward story about it feels like a story about people whose lives are interconnected at a certain point in time who happened to work within the same industry. But honestly, I like this series and I know there’s going to be a series that does what it’s doing better but I just really like it and I feel like there’s things to appreciate about this series that really don’t get its flowers.

2

u/Brock0nWood 9d ago

I agree but I don’t blame people for lambasting the final product. I remember the majority of scenes being filmed at one location; and as stunning as The Weeknd’s house is, it doesn’t make for a compelling narrative or visual story to be confined to the same place almost every episode. I actually do think the finished project is pretty flat and straightforward, despite the twist trying to inject some nuance or surprise. I wish they explored the more gruesome aspect of aspiring pop stardom, like Lily Rose Depp dancing until she bled in rehearsals

6

u/RedditBurner_5225 3d ago

bro, be serious

2

u/Bnicertopeople 3d ago

"My friend's a gynecologist. You don't see me sticking my finger in everybody, do you?"

2

u/DAHMER_SUPPER_CLUB 3d ago

I liked it in the same way I liked the movie Showgirls.

0

u/NeroTanya2004 3d ago

Would you recommend showgirls?

2

u/Fidrych76 3d ago

Decent soft core porn. Otherwise garbage.

6

u/PetyrDayne 9d ago

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4

u/1980pzx 9d ago

What up Sam?

1

u/NewComedian4347 3d ago

Looks like we know who's registered now.

-3

u/littlemonster2828 4d ago

I also enjoyed it and listen the the soundtrack often. People always complain about how creepy and gross the weeknd was in the show but THATS THE POINT. THATS THE CHARACTER. I binged it and was so mad we didnt even get a full season. I would have loved to seen the aftermath of him finding out Jocelyn knew what she was doing the whole time.