Oh, Hello! Back for more, I see
Well, letโs get right to it ๐๐โจ
#4 Crush: HBOโs THE IDOL โControversyโ (Insert aggressive eyes roll from me)
You know that old expression, โWhere thereโs smoke, thereโs fire?โ
Well, I donโt particularly love that expression; sometimes-just sometimes, that proverbial โsmokeโ is an intentionally well-hidden match. Translation? Whatโs more apt to perk your ears/minds/and eyes up than a little โcontroversyโ? (Eminem's voice)
Full Disclosure: I have not had the good fortune to see the pilot for THE IDOL yet. So like any good writer, I reserve the right to revisit this topic when I have feasted on the entire series. BUT my assessments and opinions are not blind-aka. I do my due diligence as you should.
Suppose one were to believe the rather scathing/accusatory/damning article Rollingstone published about this yet-to-be-released series. In that case, you might ( if you happen to be a discerning reader/consumer-which, all of you are because you are here!)
You would assume that HBOโs series The Idol is a 5-alarm dumpster fire headed straight for hell. But letโs consider the source, shall we?
Rollingstone has a prolific past of writing pretty atrocious (goodness, I sound so adult) โarticlesโ over the years. That being said, Rollingstone can most assuredly evolve-Iโm sure they have in many aspects, but that article was a little tooโฆ whatโs the word? PERSONAL
And low and behold, look what I found!!
I PRACTICALLY CHOKED ON MY METIMUCIL!
1) Well, HELLOOOOO, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, known professionally as โThe Weeknd,โ Thank you VERY MUCH for joining the group chat๐๐๐
2) DING DING DING!!!! And there you have the source of the relentless dragging radiating like a hot stove from that Rollingstone article. *Not to say that journalists/artists arenโt allowed to express their feelings; I mean, hello, PLEASE DO. But maybe make it less obvious/evident that your boss is standing directly behind you, telling you to throw in aggressive adjectives like; โTorture porn.โ Sheesh!
Rollingstone describing anything โtoxicโ is BOLD, considering the magazineโs name is synonymous with TOXIC MASCULINITY (among many, many other things)
Final Hot Take: The media may very well be playing us all (which, guess what, Iโm here for it!) because, ultimately, whatโs deemed controversial is subjective. THE IDOLโs creator Sam Levison wrote my beloved Euphoria, which initially was not an easy watch if you recall from my article here. Iโve said this before; traumatic/complicated/complex subject matter and people can be hard to look at. It doesnโt mean it doesnโt deserve a chance. So you have Sam Levinson, who is known for taking that uncomfortable subject matter-pushing the envelope, lighting it on fire, and sprinkling some gasoline on it for good measure. Kind of sounds familiarโฆ
#5 Crush: Myha'la Herroldโs as Harper Stern on HBOโS INDUSTRY
(damn, someone got a crush on HBO)
Harper Stern is a phenom and a complex and compelling character study on navigating the perils of the โcorporate world.โ
Havenโt heard of INDUSTRY? Sadly-Iโm not surprised.
Like many writers/journalists, this series seems to fly under the radar-though its critical praise abounds-it has yet to receive the fanfare it so rightfully deserves.
By now, you know Iโm all about how character development (change my mind-surprise me!) and overall writing unfolds within a series. I donโt need to be dazzled in a traditional sense; in the case of INDUSTRY, itโs a gradual, methodical, effortless burn.
Itโs been a minute since a series had so many killer lines that I had to grab a notebook to write down these insane pearls of wisdom.
I could go on & on about the brilliance of this series; how refreshing it is to see women painted with the kind of complexity and care that Lisa Taddeo does in her novels-but I think youโll understand it better when you see it for yourself.
Thanks for reading
As always, let me know your thoughts & sharing is caring.