Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s The Idol has come under fire for its many scenes involving nudity and sex, something Levinson described as “revolutionary” in a Cannes press conference. But you know what’s really revolutionary when it comes to onscreen love scenes? Having a normal-sized woman have sex with a 13-foot-tall giant.
Such is the case in writer-director Boots Riley’s new TV series I’m a Virgo, which tells the literal tall tale of giant Cootie (Jharrel Jerome) as he leaves his sheltered home for the first time. Once outside, he strikes up a relationship with aspiring chef Flora (Olivia Washington), whose power of super speed means she perceives everything else in the world as being mind-numbingly slow. In Season 1, episode 4, titled “Balance Beam,” the pair finally has sex — and has to deal with many logistical complications in the process.
‘I’m a Virgo’ review: Boots Riley’s larger-than-life series is a brilliant, bizarro adventure
The sequence, which takes up almost half of the 21-minute-long episode, is one of the sweetest, funniest, and sexiest scenes of the year, all without sacrificing an inch of I’m a Virgo‘s strangeness. And in a summer in which sex-scene discourse has been defined by The Idol, it’s hard not to put the shows’ takes on sex in conversation with one another.
Sex is at the forefront of The Idol: Pop star Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) musical comeback single “World Class Sinner/I’m a Freak” portrays her as a bad girl looking for “someone to bang”; the first episode features a scene involving ice cube foreplay; and Jocelyn and new paramour Tedros Tedros (Tesfaye) can barely keep their hands off one another. The scene that’s stirred up the most controversy and ridicule so far comes at the end of episode 2, when Tedros blindfolds Jocelyn and dirty talks to her from across the room. (“Make that throat wet for me,” he tells her, among other, even more explicit, commands.)
Credit: Eddy Chen / HBO
While Tesfaye revealed in a GQ interview that the scene wasn’t meant to be sexy at all, the backlash to it speaks to The Idol‘s attitude toward portraying sex in general. The first episode kicks off by locking the intimacy coordinator of Jocelyn’s photoshoot in a bathroom, portraying him as a whining nag instead of an important on-set resource. Later, constant close-up shots of Jocelyn’s body and over-the-top breathy, moan-y sex scenes call to mind porn that caters to the male gaze. Euphoria, Levinson’s first HBO show, drew similar concerns.
Compare this with I’m a Virgo‘s larger-than-life sex scene, where communication and mutual pleasure are key. Cootie (who’s never had sex before) and Flora talk to each other throughout, checking to make sure if they can change positions and if that position is comfortable for their partner too. When Cootie awkwardly attempts some forceful, pornographic dirty talk because his friend Felix (Brett Gray) told him girls like it, Flora stops him. “I’m not fucking Felix, I’m fucking you,” she says. If only someone had shut Tedros down the same way.
Creativity-wise, I’m a Virgo‘s sex scene far eclipses anything The Idol has done as well. Oh, you’re using blindfolds? You’re having sex in a Valentino dressing room? Call me when you’ve got a super speedy woman trying to figure out how to have sex with her literal giant of a boyfriend in the stockroom of a burger restaurant.
In all seriousness, watching Flora and Cootie negotiate their massive size difference when it comes to sex is a surprisingly endearing experience. When Cootie gets naked, Flora takes one look at him and says, “That’s not gonna work.” But it’s not long before the two are working through different positions and techniques to make the most out of their experience without penetration. The show also incorporates Flora’s super speed into the sex — she undresses far faster than Cootie, who fumbles with his pants and shoes. She peppers his face with a multitude of kisses before he can even stick his tongue out. And when it’s clear she’s slowing herself down to match him, Cootie lets her know that it’s OK with him if she goes as fast as she wants.
The scene makes it clear that both Cootie and Flora experience quite a bit of pleasure just from their sounds and dialogue, but when it comes to visuals, Riley mostly focuses on the characters’ faces. If we do see more of their bodies, they’re silhouetted by the stockroom lights, so we never see too much nudity, or even the particulars of some of their sex positions. But just because we don’t have a clear view of everything that’s going on doesn’t mean the scene isn’t engaging or sexy — far from it.
While The Idol‘s sex scenes appear to have been crafted for infamy, they blur together and fade into a forgettable, porny mush. By contrast, it’s completely impossible to forget I’m a Virgo‘s sex scene. The size differential — accomplished through a number of practical optical illusions, like forced perspective and puppetry — certainly makes up a big part of that. But so too does the scene’s focus on communication and consent, as well as the sweet chemistry between Jerome and Washington. It’s a wild ride of a sequence that pushes the boundaries of sex scenes in a hilarious and exciting way, whereas The Idol likes to think it’s boundary-pushing while in reality, staying within all too familiar (and all too uninteresting) territory.
All episodes of I’m a Virgo are now streaming on Prime Video.
