“Rape fantasy”: controversy over the sexual scenes of ‘The Idol’, the new series from the creator of ‘Euphoria’ for HBO Max with The Weeknd

The Cannes festival, the same one that recently experienced a long standing ovation for Johnny Depp, last week hosted the premiere of two episodes of ‘The Idol’, starring Lily-Rose Depp, ultimately the daughter of the aforementioned actor. But the notoriety of this series does not reside only in the name of this nepobaby actress: it is an HBO production and its cast includes Jennie (BLACKPINK’s K-Pop star) or Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (better known by his name artist, The Weeknd), who is also one of its co-creators along with Reza Fahim and Sam Levinson, the latter famous for being also responsible for ‘Euphoria’. And not only that, before its premiere, which will take place on June 5 on HBO Max Spain, He has already raised a huge storm for his explicit portrayal of sex and accusations by the team calling it a “rape fantasy”.

In fiction, Depp gives life to Jocelyn, a young singer who is going through a difficult time: after canceling her last tour due to a nervous breakdown, will try to be considered the sexiest pop star again, while beginning a complex relationship with Tendros (the character from The Weeknd), a manipulative self-help guru. Los Angeles as a city where all the demons of the world meet, according to the trailer, and the price of fame are two of the axes on which the proposal rotates. And the sex.

‘The Idol’: sex, sex and sex

One of the scenes that has caused the most talk is one in which Jocelyn appears with her face covered in cum, starring in a viral revenge porn image. She is not the only one. In another, she locks an intimacy coordinator in a bathroom while the protagonist is photographed nude for a record cover. And in a third, about ten minutes, she masturbates while Tendros tells her dirty things and finally gives her oral sex.

The sex depicted on screen shouldn’t be problematic in itself, depending on its narrative function, but several of the critics who have seen ‘The Idol’ have been disturbed by the proposal’s approach. Tesfaye told a news conference that he and Levinson wanted to “create something special, fun, that makes people laugh and turns some people on their noses.” Et voilàthe controversy has already been achieved before the premiere. “Gloomy, disgusting and vulgar” (Showbiz 411), “It’s crude, disgusting and sexist” (The Playlist), “Disgusting, brutal, it gets much longer than it is, and much, much worse than you would have anticipated” (Rolling Stone), “The sleazeiness of the series (intentional or not) is one thing, but what irritates is the horrible and justifying presentation of rape culture” (The Daily Beast) were some of the criticisms garnered.

But it is not just that they have touched their noses, as the artistic duo intended, but that those who have seen it denounce that the series is nothing more than a compendium of tasteless sexual jokes and explicit scenes where women are used as meat, without a message of denunciation or exposure of this to move the viewer.

From a feminist series to… quite the opposite

The controversies about ‘The Idol’ come from long before critics could see their first bars in Cannes. Rolling Stone published last March a report in which they had the testimony of thirteen people related to the production. In summary, The Weeknd is drawn as a complicated person (he talks about a toxic environment in the production that led to the departure of several people, including director Amy Seimetz) and with airs of greatness as an author, which required numerous script changes and reshoots of scenes. It is said that when The Weeknd scrapped it, almost finished, the project had already cost between 54 and 75 million dollars.

Not only that, these sources point out that ‘The Idol’ was forged as a project with a feminist focus, but that Tesfaye would not have been pleased that the series had such a feminine perspective and demanded to change it, until doing what they have called a ” rape fantasy. Also, she wanted her character to carry more weight. A member of the series told the aforementioned medium: “I entered for a dark satire on fame and the model of fame of the 21st century, on the things that we subject the stars to, what makes people put themselves in the spotlight. public eye and how this can be manipulated in a post-Trump world. He went from satire to what he was satirizing“. Are we looking at the next big disaster for HBO Max or do we have a priceless promotional campaign on our hands?