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The controversy over The Idol has died down with the season finale plot twist. After four episodes of building a narrative that appeared to be about a pop artist falling victim to the abuse of a cult leader and producer Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye), the season finale exposed Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) as the orchestrator of it all. Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who played Jocelyn’s manager Destiny, shared her take on the controversy.
Many have called The Idol “torture porn” and misogynistic, but that has since been questioned with the finale. In fact, Da'Vine Joy Randolph thinks it's the opposite.
“It’s not just, what do you think of this man doing this thing to this woman? It’s taking back the power for women in the sense of, that girl knew what she was doing,” Randolph told The Hollywood Reporter. “I think it’s clever and I think it gives a great setup for what could be moving forward.”
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“I think it turns it on its side and, hopefully, did what it needs to do in terms of shocking people, which I hope then made all the other stuff worth it,” she said. “When it’s questions of this being inappropriate or he’s quote-unquote ‘raping’ her, this kind of answers all those things.”
Randolph also spoke on the controversy that began even before the show started. “I truly respect and understand everyone’s opinion. Meaning, at the end of the day, it’s art. If we went to a museum, I know everybody won’t like the same painting. But as an artist, as long as there’s conversation being had, in my opinion, you’ve won the race.”
“It was a very high-profile project. You have The Weeknd in it. That’s already going to start conversation,” she continued. “At the end of the day, what I’m grateful for is the viewership. You could be mad and have all the feelings, but you watched it. And I thank you for watching it.”
