Sam Levinson and Lily-Rose Depp defend erotic drama The Idol after it was dubbed 'luxury sleaze'
Lily-Rose Depp and Sam Levinson have defended 'The Idol's erotic sex scenes - insisting that "we live in a very sexualised world".
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After The Wrap dubbed the raunchy HBO drama “luxury sleaze" and the show's Rotten Tomatoes reviews rating slumped to below 10 per cent, the leading lady and the show's co-creator have had their say on the eroticisation of pop star Jocelyn (Depp), who is seduced by Abel Tesfaye's cult leader alter ego, Tedros.
Depp is quoted by PEOPLE as saying at a Cannes press conference: “I think that something about Jocelyn is just that she’s a born and bred performer.
“I think that extends to every aspect of her life, not just her professional life.
“I think that the way that she dresses, for example, is her trying to tell you something all the time or say something to the people that she’s around or express herself in some kind of way.”
Levinson explained how Jocelyn is showing how revenge porn impacts people in real life.
He said of the reaction: “It’s funny, I think that sometimes things that might be revolutionary are taken too far. I think we live in a very sexualised world.
“We see this in pop music and how it reflects the underbelly of the internet in some ways."
Levinson - who co-created 'The Idol' with Abel (The Weeknd) and Reza Fahim - insisted that he and Depp, 23, put a lot of thought into who Jocelyn is and how she should appear.
He added: “I think that with this show and working with Lily, we had a lot of discussions about who she is as a person, who Jocelyn is as a person, and what she’s feeling, what she’s angling, who she’s playing to.”
Some of the most X-rated scenes include Jocelyn with semen on her face and masturbation with ice cubes.
The plot reads: "After a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn's last tour, she's determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America. Her passions are reignited by Tedros, a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. Will her romantic awakening take her to glorious new heights or the deepest, darkest, depths of her soul?"
Despite the mixed opinions of its sexual content, 'The Idol' - which starts airing on HBO on June 4 - received a five-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival.
