LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: HBO’s much-awaited ‘The Idol’ featuring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye is finally out for the viewers to love and loathe. The first two episodes premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival where it was panned by critics for its graphic sexual content and themes. And it turns out, this time the critics did know what they were talking about.
‘The Idol’ created by Sam Levinson of ‘Euphoria’ fame is a series about an aspiring pop idol named Jocelyn who, after having a nervous breakdown that causes her last tour to be canceled, resolves to reclaim her title as the sexiest pop star in America and begins a complex relationship with Tedros (Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye), a self-help guru and the head of a contemporary cult. In the pilot episode, we see bouts of nudity, smoking, narcissism, and the music industry which preys on its idols. We also witness Jocelyn and her entourage which includes her publicist and her best friend and assistant Leia, pulling the strings of the pop diva’s life. But the incessant portrayal of nudity, scenes that do not flow, cringy dialogue, and the music world already overexposed and overexploited, did not sit well with Sam Levinson’s fans who were already going gaga over his home run with Zendaya centered ‘Euphoria.’ And The Weeknd’s much-wrought labor of love fell from the highest mountain before it could touch the sky.
'For god’s sake take Sam Levinson's pen away'
When ‘The Idol’ was announced, there was hope and excitement as two stalwarts of their respective fields were in for a sumptuous collaboration. HBO made Sam Levinson and The Weeknd happen to hash out ‘The Idol'. But unfortunately, the sleazy gaze of Sam Levinson had run out of gas with ‘Euphoria'. The show turned out nothing but a tawdry tale of an aspiring pop star who will bend to anyone’s needs for reclaiming her fame. And Sam Levinson is caught in the crossfire. After the pilot was aired on HBO, the fans only just managed to finish the show and took to social media to express their angst against the show’s creator.
Twitter was buzzing with people pointing out all that is wrong with Sam Levinson at the moment. “Replace Sam Levinson with a chat gpt script and the show is instantly better,” one fan wrote. Levinson and The Weeknd were on the bashing radar of another fan. “Sam Levinson is trying to be deep but his writing is just f**king weird. Also, The Weeknd’s character is f**ing creepy as f**k and makes me hate the actual Weeknd.” Another fan called out Levinson’s way of producing bad writing one after the other. “Sam Levinson can’t keep getting away with what he’s writing.” One fan went with the critics and said, “The Idol was as bad as the critics tried to warn you. Sam Levinson is all stunt with no soul or substance with this one,” and in a plea of desperation, one fan tweeted, “This writing is so bad, pls for god’s sake take Sam Levinson pen away.”
'What an absolute hack'
If you thought Twitter was buzzing alight with Sam Levinson’s hatred, Reddit couldn’t help but join in on the parade. One user commented, “Sam Levinson should be shot into the sun, what an absolute hack,” while the other had a small piece of advice, “Honestly could have been 30 minutes with how little went on. Also feels like it’s trying too hard to be edgy.” However, one compared it to Levinson’s previous work and was equally disappointed. “It's... okay, a bit slow compared to Sam Levinson's previous pilots.”
HBO drops new episodes of 'The Idol' every Sunday at 9 pm ET on HBO.
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