Love it or hate it, everyone will talk about it Idol for the next six weeks. Personally, I love everything I’ve seen so far. Buy me a hot dose of bullshit every day! But still, I love an obscene examination of the dark underbelly of fame. As a voracious pop culture connoisseur, there is nothing more captivating to me than a piece of entertainment that is bold enough to overcome the ill effects of glitz and glamor. We see these played out every day in the headlines of gossip rags websites and Twitter headlines, but in fact, keenly studying the art of being a star is no simple feat.
In order to satirize something successfully, it is necessary to be a disciple of what they have sent. If you do something half-baked, one of your viewers will probably understand. Definitely Idol creator and writer Sam Levinson—he’s also a nepo baby—and his star and co-author, The Weeknd, knows a thing or two about how Hollywood chews and spit out its actors. However, first-hand experience when creating something this vast and contentious is not enough to stand on. With a show as controversial as this, viewers will be looking for proof that Levinson and The Weeknd really knew what they were talking about.
At this point, the jury Idol‘s analysis of pop stardom will turn into a comment that swells up something like this: vox luxuryThe show got off to a solid start, thanks to a keen eye for pop culture references that are both overt and somewhat understated. (Yeah, even IdolFor the next six weeks, I’ll chronicle the series’ allusions to entertainment, celebrity, film, television, and music, and explain how these develop and hinder the show’s story and themes. Any major spoilers will be flagged as such. If you have a question about my credentials, ask it with the homemade Lady Gaga disco stick I put together at the age of 14.
Episode 1, “Pop Tarts and Rat Tales”
I’m Britney, bitch! It would be impossible to put on a good show about a harassed pop star without mentioning the great Britney Spears. The third trailer for the series cheerfully (and deftly) used Spears’ song “Gimme More.” Lily-Rose Depp’s character, Jocelyn, is similarly troubled, having just come out of a mental breakdown that put her in the hospital. Jocelyn and Britney’s journeys are intended to be parallel. Show Fair reporter Talia (Hari Nef) comments on the “reference” choreography for Jocelyn’s next single.
“It’s a tribute,” replies Nikki (Jane Adams), one of Jocelyn’s many team members. “I think what Britney and Jocelyn went through is truly unique… Look what she’s been through with Britney, too. People count them. This Jocelyn says, ‘I won’t be erased. Talia also talks about growing up watching “Jocelyn. Rock HouseA fictional children’s television show starring Jocelyn, as played by Spears Mickey Mouse Club.
Levinson denied that Jocelyn was based on any particular starlet, but the show definitely has Britney references and could potentially even include Spears in some way. In 2021, Spears posted a photo shortly after his conservatory ended, saying that he had “made a movie called ‘THE IDOL'”. It’s unclear if that project was the same as this one, but Levinson and The Weeknd were pictured together. Spears last summer. Maybe we’re getting ready for a cameo.
Pop Star Reference Watchmaker: When Jocelyn and her crew go to a club, they all dance to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” Naturally, Madonna contributed to the official soundtrack of the series.
At the club, Jocelyn meets the enigmatic guru Tedros, who is about to turn her life and career upside down. When he invites her to his home, the two relax and say that he thinks pop music is superficial. Tedros and both agree that Prince’s “When Doves Cry” is the antithesis of pop’s superficiality.
When Jocelyn plays Tedros the demo of her new song “World Class Sinner,” she says it’s bad because Tedros doesn’t believe her. She cites Donna Summer’s song “I Love You, Baby” as an example of what Jocelyn should do in the vocal booth. “When she sings, there’s no doubt she knows how to fuck,” says Tedros.
Read about me and arrest me: Jocelyn and her best friend/assistant Leia spend a quiet evening at home watching a movie. Basic Instinct. It’s easy to break it down. at its core, Idol It is a modern adaptation of the erotic thriller genre. Levinson’s direction shares many of the same trademarks Basic Instinctdirected by Paul Verhoeven. Verhoeven’s films blend sex and violence to comment on social mores, sometimes to the point where their differences are indistinguishable. All of Levinson’s work has done just that, and has been equally controversial as Verhoeven’s best-known films; No doubt Levinson likens himself to Verhoeven with this inclusion.
If you haven’t seen (don’t get on), Basic Instinct It’s about a crime writer who kills her boyfriends and lures the police who are investigating her. In the scene that Jocelyn and Leia watch, Sharon Stone tells Michael Douglas that in his next novel, a detective fell in love with the wrong woman and killed her. This dialogue sequence concludes the scene and could be a preview of what will eventually happen to Jocelyn and Tedros.
Hollywood bloodsuckers: The Weeknd compared Tedros to Dracula, and judging by how the camera frames his character, that doesn’t seem too far from the truth. When Tedros arrives at Jocelyn’s mansion, the palace doors slowly open into her dark silhouette, her long black coat looking more like a cloak. He’s dressed almost exactly like Wesley Snipes. knife blade. While this gives him an air of threat, it also shows us that Tedros is trying to look like a role. She desperately wants to be sexy, mysterious and irresistible to take control of Jocelyn. Just like a vampire, once invited in, there’s no turning back she.
My Dear Narcissism: It’s no surprise that a show starring and co-writing The Weeknd is somewhat self-referential. As Jocelyn and Tedros kiss deep in the bat, half of her face is usually covered in red light while the other half is off. These shots look almost exactly like her cover. dear melancholy EP.
Jocelyn also likes erotic smothering and then lets Tedros strangle her, which causes her to cover her face with a robe and tie a velvet string around her neck. The Weeknd is no stranger to gaming. In fact, there’s a whole song and music video about a woman asking him to strangle her.