the idol, overs*xualization, & the male gaze 

the fact that they didn't want to tell the story from a female perspective despite it being about the experience of a WOMAN in the showbiz industry tells a lot. they turned into the very thing they were supposed to criticize.

This show has drove me INSANE. Sam Levinson likes to use his fragile male ego as an excuse to make a misogynistic show. The Weeknd has a LOT of control of it, as the Rolling Stone article said so

euphoria itself was a big red flag being so graphically sexual despite being about teenagers. ofc this scrote of a man took his leap and made straight up humiliating torture porn next

Im so pissed that this show could've been good. Her mom manipulating her and then dying and her having to figure out her life and trauma within her career would've been so interesting

I...don't think Sam Levinson knows what satire is lol

sam levinson derives a sadistic pleasure from degrading women and inflicting pain upon them, to a point where they cannot survive without their male partners. for example cassie from euphoria. there was so much that could have been done w her character, primarily exploring the aftermath of havin an abortion, her issues w her father, and how she was sexualised by the men in her life since a young age. however, he chose to forgo everything about her character and reduced her to someone w nice body, who would let men have their way w her as well as being so dependent on nate that she could barely function without him. also the fact that they fired the female director bc she was leaning too much into the "female gaze" and chose to hire sam to tell the story of a woman being used by men. hes a weird man and honestly should never be put behind the camera ever again

12:02 "We need more people who aren't men telling stories about people who aren't men." EXACTLY! Sis, you read my mind! Seriously, the fact that Abel and Sam fired Amy because there was too much of a "female perspective " even despite the fact that the entire goddamn show literally revolves around A WOMAN pisses me off.

The set up of getting to know the behind the scenes life of a massive pop star could have been a very interesting one, but sadly this show just fell into the wrong hands. Even if the show were to make Jocelyn seem like an absolute girl boss and badass by the end of the season, the way they’ve been setting up doesn’t make it satisfying at all.

The weekend’s character also was just super creepy and “rapey” and seeing how much he had a hand in the creation of the show… we should all steer clear and far away from this man 😭

Honestly I think it's insane how they literally said that taking charges on someone if they committed a crime against you is revenge??? As if a women who raises her voice if nudes of her are getting public because of a men is just doing that for revenge. That shit is problematic.

The way the show could've been so much better without the involvement of Abel and Levinson like the heartbreaking scenes of her trying to shoot a music video physically messing her up, crying for her mother in a room full of people who don't care about her but only churning out something to sell.. Lilly acted her ass off but then Abel comes in with unnecessary sex scenes, cringy lines and awful acting. The male gaze is so apparent in the gratuitous nudity (great that lilly felt protected same as Sydney Sweeney, doesn't negate that Sam is fucking weird for making them take their clothes off so much) but Abel gets to stay clothed and how his mere existence somehow turns her on like?? That magazine was right in calling it the worst sex scene to be made lmao. They could've shown scam companies trying to recruit struggling artists and how they can exploit them but instead they're literally exploiting the actors by making the girl in the 2nd ep literally strip nude then run around and play the piano for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON??.. i can't even make sense of what they're doing, crying at Cannes like this show is anything more than Levinson's pornographic fantasies of humiliating young women and presenting it as "pRoVaCatEUr"

the opening scene in episode 3 just shows it perfectly.. the male gaze. lily's face is hidden by the shadow. her breasts are out, and the sunlight and the camera is focused on them. for no reason. didn't add anything to the scene. wasn't some sort of subtle nod to something deeper - like perhaps tedros see's her as an object. no.. this shot was the director who sees her as an object. it's just nudity for the sake of it.

Omg the Jeffrey Epstein joke. It was so disturbing and sickening

I wanted to take a shower after I watched the first ep and Im not gonna watch the others. If someone ever asks me what the male gaze is ill show them this show. Sam, stop it get some help. That creep should be locked up.

That interviewed clip you showed looked so... strange? Uncanny? Sam Levinson was fully animated and moving whilst talking but Lily Rose Depp and The Weekend were as still as statues. Like completely unmoving and expressionless plus The Weekend looking right into the camera was kinda creepy tbh

It infuriates me because I see the potential of telling a story about being a woman in the entertainment industry from a vulnerable and female perspective and they had to ruin it with some truly gross imagery for the pleasure of men

new subscriber! I watched the first episode, and I feel like in addition to the world of misogyny and exploitation behind this show, the Idol is also a result of the industry's turn towards generating content rather than organic storytelling? as in, feels like they created one big vibe (that also happens to be disturbing), and I'd be shocked if it actually shapes itself into a meaningful narrative. really appreciated your thoughts here, and look forward to watching more of your work.

the weeknd singing about whatever was going on in the background AS it was happening was so funny. the sam levinson version of glee.

I’ve written several short films and a tv Pilot and a majority of them have a female protagonist. As a cis het male I find them more inspirational and challenging to write. I’ve had to scrap entire concepts because it became glaringly obvious that they were not well written from a woman’s perspective. I get input from women in my life on their thoughts about the characters, it helps but doesn’t replace the need for more women behind and in front of the camera making their own stories.

Originally The Weekend's character was supposed to be HOT and was created for the female gaze to the point where the female lead falls for him and ignores all of the manipulation and dangerous Red Flags because he is charming in an iconic way but then Sam L and The Weekend butchered this character by rewriting him as an obvious creep + terrible acting. We could have had an ICONIC character with a really really good actor to be able to pull it off if HBO didn't ruin it all by firing the female director Amy. 😒

The Idol would've been on Spike TV if it had come out in 2008, I feel it in my bones

they should have just said it was a p0rn and called it a day because this is absolutely shown from the male gaze perspective, because evidently it was too much about the female perspective . like I can understand that not all nudity can be sexualized, but like....most movies and media in general kinda center around the male gaze which begs the question; what do we make of movies and media that are literally just to serve the male gaze? people say context is everything, but the context is quite literally and simply ✨ *sex* ✨ with this show in specific, this is a gross way to say that all they care about is the male fantasy; a hot girl who is mentally unstable and will allow you to treat her like garbage and stay with you no matter how abusive or toxic you are; ie. *ANY MAN HAS A CHANCE AT HOT WOMEN* . this is all just a p0rn

i watched the idol out of whim and wanted to throw up every meal i have had in my lifetime

Great commentary, this show didn't come off as a satire at all.

I think it's really interesting how self-aware of his toxicity The Weeknd is in his music but in visual media it hasn't translated successfully at all and has just slid into misogyny. The song Take My Breath relates to s*xual choking and it's a bop but when the same idea is brought into episode 1 it feels uncomfortably and unnecessarily violent.

i really like your voice it's so calming :)) Keep up the videos!

extremely well put. i personally haven't heard much about this show and i will not be watching it now. it's so disappointing that we still have to deal with such terrible male gaze :( hopefully people who need to hear these words will watch it!!

I’m actually dropping out, I don’t want to be a number to give it a second season

You may or may not have seen it but I’d like to recommend The Take making a video on the Female Gaze.

YES i've been waiting for this video THANK YOU

The commentary was definitely on point

Just stumbled upon your channel and I love it!

It could’ve been such an interesting story and show, and the acting of most of the characters is actually pretty good (not looking at Abel, cause idk if that man’s ever heard of facial expression), but the lack of character development and unnecessary focus on nudity really cheapens the show

Great content and your voice is soothing too.

This show has so much potential! I'd love to see a show about a pop-star trying to get her career back after having a mental breakdown. It's too bad they're focusing so much on The Weeknd's corny ass character

10:23 yeah everyone but Sam Levinson here looks like they are staring down the barrel of a gun held just off camera. Everyone just looks so uncomfortable and I think that's revealing.

When you mentioned the definition of over sexualization for the sake of objectification versus sexual scenarios for a meaningful purpose made me think of the show Insecure. It had a few sex scenes, a few scenes revolving around the bodily functions of people, but it wasn't done to objectify the men or women in the scene, it was done simply to show the normal lives of these yound adults who have smex. Comparing that kind of show to this show (and Euphoria), you can see the difference between objectified sex and not objectified sex when it comes to how women are portrayed on screen and their sex lives. Women's bodies aren't always aesthetic and sexually pleasing to men and it shouldn't be portrayed that way in media.

I really do think Sam Livingston thought French people would get this show better than Americans, because they are way more comfortable with sex and nudity, so he premiered it at Cannes. But boy was he wrong. Does anyone like the show?

Girl just came to say your video didn't show up when I was looking for idol reviews, might wanna see that optimization

The fact that people are really defending this show, talking about “it’s just acting” “it’s deep you wouldn’t get it” at the people criticizing it, calling them “haters” just shows how desensitized everyone is to nudity & shit dialogue, all because it has cool aesthetics and an attractive cast, Not understanding this show is actually satirizing itself and a horrible representation of manipulation/romanticizing abuse. Celebrity worship is real and The Weeknd’s fans prove it with their deluded defense over this trash.

I think you put it very well with the word "gratuitous". Most of the exploitative scenes are just unnecessary. It's clear this show was only made to oversexualise the female cast and stroke the egos of Sam Levinson and The Weeknd :/ I am a huge fan of The Weeknd but I cannot support this show

Hi! I was wondering what's the brand of your mic?

I like the way you’ve managed to use this absolute dumpster fire to say something important, rather than just ranting about it. Thanks. I guess I shouldn’t be shocked when they give us a new low (especially from SL - I did see Euphoria season two, after all) but I am shocked and horrified by so many aspects of this show.

The stans crying out "oNg iT iS jUSt saTiRe"- bruh, shut up, it is like a skit by Cherdleys, but not half as good or entertaining. It is a pule of garbage set on fire💀

Why would they fire the female directorrrrrrr

Tedros and his rat tail 😂

The problem is that HBO mandates sex and nakedness because it's HBO. It's part of the brand. It's being like that since at least Spartacus and Game of Thrones. And of course they will let Sam take the blame because otherwise people would directly unsuscribe HBO, which would be a bigger loose for HBO than if people simply don't watch The Idol. To me Levinson clearly believes to some extent in what he talks about in the pieces he creates. Assassination Nation for example is very un-subtle about it's criticism against mysoginy in relation with American Identity and Nationalism etc. I hope that once Euphoria is finished he can go and do he's own thing.

Good reaction! Entertaining show and great soundtrack!

I watched Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge some weeks ago and couldn’t believe how obviously this was written by a man, only to find that the idol has the same problem but so much worse 🤢

Some of the lines in the show I can see truly sick and evil people in that industry like “Mental Illness is sexy” but the Rapey line that was said should of been took out that made me uncomfortable and wanna puke

It's still crazy to me that the entire show started off with Jocelyn's manager saying "MeNt@L iLLnE$$ is sEx¥" is just so wrong so cringe and so messed up.😅😅😅

After watching episode 4, I’m seeing that The Weeknd’s character ruins everything! If it was just Lily and the other characters, everything would be okay.

What did you study, if anything? :)

The show was trying too hard to be provocative. Also, there's no plot HBO should cancel this. And I like the Weeknd but this show is boring and over the top.

I don't think there's a problem with the male gaze at all, just like there's not a problem with the female gaze. It all comes down to the writing.

So much unnecessary nudity it served absolutely nothing

As a SA survivor and CAS survivor I can tell you that both me and my girlfriend who is also an SA survivor absolutely loved the show and thought it was BRILLIANT and incredibly NECESSARY. You’re criticisms are idealogical and silly and just objectively wrong and based on popular attitudes that have become all too pervasive by people who claim to be idealogically liberal but really are just knee-jerk reactionaries and idealogical bullies that can not challenge their own biases and sensibilities to engage with difficult art. You’re criticism is the same criticism feminists like Gloria Steinem lobbied at Bret Easton Ellis when he wrote American Psycho, one of the literary masterpieces of the past 50 years easily. They were wrong then (Steinem has admitted as such and Christian Bale who starred in the movie adaptation is actually her step son) and you’re wrong now

Ok unpopularrrrr opinion here...but has anyone ever considered the fact that maybe some women out there in the world actually enjoy being fantasized about by men and enjoy being the object of the male gaze? I think it's totally fine to hate the show. I don't think it's fine however to assume that only men are behind the "issue" of the male gaze or that women aren't just as aroused by Lily's incredible body as men. OR, here's a wild thought...that some women are actually extremely aroused by their OWN BODIES, and even more so when a man is looking at their bodies with arousal. And that that mutual arousal can lead to some really great sexual experiences for both the man and the woman. I think this is where feminist theory is starting to lose its appeal and credibility a lot. You can't just paint everybody - all women or men - with the same brush. We are so different in what we find appealing when it comes to sexual desire which is the whole point of the show. It all comes down to your personal taste! I actually agreed with the fact that seeking revenge on the person who leaked your photo does what exactly? The photo is already out....calling that person out just adds fuel to the fire. Once again, this comes down to taste, and no two humans are alike.

The more I hear about this show the more it sounds like some fantasy The Weeknd and Sam Levinson have.