Is ‘The Idol’ good for Hollywood Jews or ‘torture porn’?
The pilot of the controversial HBO series is chock full of Jews — but not the noblest depictions of them
Eli Roth plays Andrew Finkelstein in HBO’s The Idol. Photo by Eddy Chen/HBO
By PJ Grisar June 5, 2023
Live Nation representative Andrew Finkelstein rolls up to the gate of his client Jocelyn’s estate in a bright red convertible — when the guard stops him and he doesn’t have ID, he Googles himself: “See that punim?”
It takes the intervention of Chaim, Joss’ manager, who has locked an intimacy coordinator in the bathroom, to get him through. When Finkelstein’s waved in, he says “what a mensch” to the guard, before cursing him out for the 10th time.
“My second-favorite Jew,” Chaim says when Finkelstein arrives.
“I am not in the mood for the Jew shit, Chaim, not today,” Andrew answers.
My sentiments exactly.
In the lurid media frenzy surrounding The Weeknd and Sam Levinson’s The Idol, which, per a Rolling Stone exposé was a dumping ground for toxic “torture porn” and abusive behavior (much of the cast has stood by the show), I didn’t know “Jew shit” would also be on the menu.
But, in the first few minutes of the show, about a pop singer who falls under the spell of a club owner/cult leader, we are introduced to Hank Azaria’s Chaim, who speaks in an Israeli accent that sounds more akin to Agador Spartacus in The Birdcage than Akiva Shtisel. Then there’s Dan Levy as Benjamin, a publicist (may as well be named Ezra the scribe) and Jane Adams’ Nikki Katz, a record exec who insists “mental illness is sexy” and refers to Simone Biles as “that Black girl from the Olympics.”
Finkelstein, played by director Eli Roth, enters late, with a burst of grouchy Yiddishisms, and, together with Troye Sivan and Hari Nef (Jewish actors, if not yet in explicitly Jewish roles) observes from above as his vulnerable client performs an oversexed dance routine on her tennis court.
That the camera shoots these Jews like Roman emperors at a coliseum, watching as Joss is lifted with her arms extended crosswise like a crucified tribute, makes the whole vibe more than a bit predatory and religiously coded. Her managements’ amusement in a sun-dappled setting is soon juxtaposed with the darkness of a club, which Tedros (the Weeknd), refers to as “a church for all you sinners,” before playing a club remix of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.”
Would it be overstating it to say that Tedros will seduce this young gentile woman (played by Lily-Rose Depp) away from her grubby Jewish management? That indeed seems to be the ultimate trajectory, though Tedros is perhaps a more corrupting force than Joss’ team. He has “rapey” vibes. Joss’ handlers are just casually crass and callous Hollywood types, spinning her trauma and grief over her dead mom into a more palatable sort of sensationalism. (Yes to nipples and a hospital admission bracelet for an album cover; no to a leaked photo of semen on her face.)
There’s a lot more to come from Levinson, who replaced Amy Seimetz who left over an “evolving” creative vision for the show, but already the pilot is proving divisive for leaning hard on shock value and offering little in the way of depth.
If the Jewish characters (directed by and co-written by a Jewish director) are stock, so is everyone else in this Malibu Barbie Sex Dungeon fever dream, where role play, though titillating, is dramatically hollow. Is it moralistic or liberatory? Is it about female pleasure or the depravity of male gaze? What is being endorsed or offered as an alternative to commoditized sex and mental illness?
The show has time to make up its mind, maybe with further allusions to Finkelstein’s #MeToo escapades or a plot point about an arena residency in Tel Aviv for Chaim’s troubled starlet. I may not stick around to find out.
The almighty warned Jews against idol worship — if the show continues to be this confused, it’s solid advice.
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