Childhood trauma re-enacted through BDSM. A kinky affair with a colleague in an office bathroom. Incest bookended by gruesome murders. Where has the straightforward, vanilla sex on television gone?
Take Euphoria creator Sam Levinson’s series The Idol, which concluded last weekend in a hail of terrible reviews. In place of competent actors and well-written storylines, Levinson seemed to lean on gratuitous torture porn to draw in viewers, subjecting the series’ protagonist to abusive, disturbing sex scenes – all presumably based on the belief that extreme sex sells. Viewing figures aside, it’s fair to say it’s backfired: critics have been horrified by what has been called “the worst TV show of the year” or “ever”, depending on who is reviewing it.
