Lily-Rose Depp is incredible in The Idol – we can’t let misogynistic writing bulldoze her career

Rightly, the show has gotten heat. It’s currently got a rating of just 26% on Rotten Tomatoes and many viewers have taken to Twitter to slam its awful writing. The whole thing feels like a parody, yet Sam takes it incredibly seriously. He cried at his own screening in Cannes.

Some scenes even Meryl Streep couldn’t salvage, given how poor the writing is.

The sex scenes, in particular, feel like an incel’s wet dream. Some of the worst dialogue includes (but is not limited to): “Make that throat wet for me” and “Fuckin’ stretch that tiny little pussy.”

Despite this, Lily-Rose manages to claw back some authenticity in The Idol; showing the vulnerability and commodification of young female pop stars powerfully. In the second episode, specifically, she shines in an emotional scene: Jocelyn hits her limit, crying and calling out for her mom (who has died) during a video shoot. Telling her team, “I just need a second, and I’ll go again,” as her feet bleed and she cries to Destiny (played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

It’s no small feat that amongst all of this misogynistic mess, Lily-Rose still manages to shine in the show. We’ve seen her talent in films like The King and A Faithful Man, but this is by far her biggest role yet. Yes, she’s very much a nepo baby, but she should not be solely or unfairly held accountable for the actions of gross men.

Lily-Rose Depp is just twenty-four years old. I hope she can look back on The Idol and feel that she had autonomy over her character’s portrayal in the show, and her treatment; so much of the nudity feels unnecessary, and the sex scenes objectify Joceyln routinely, that I’m not convinced she will.

Let us not write her career off because of this show. Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye are the not-so-masterful minds behind it, and they should be the ones held accountable.

Here’s hoping her next project gives her the writing and direction her talent as an actor deserves…