“You will have to change the water in the pool.“. Broadcast since today on Prime Video, the series Worship comes to paint a vitriolic portrait of the small world of French reality TV. And what better way to tell the story of a pop-cultural phenomenon than to start from where it all began?
A loft and a swimming pool
It all started on April 26, 2001, when M6 launched a new reality show inspired by the American phenomenon Big Brother. At the time, no one believed it, but the audiences contradicted the advertisers. On the night of the final, 49.6% of viewers attend the coronation of Loana and Christophe. It is through this television tsunami that Matthieu Rumani and Nicolas Slomka set out, 23 years later, to tell the story behind the scenes.
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From the swimming pool scene to the grand finale, including the furious demonstrators in front of the M6 headquarters, and the legal questions surrounding the status of reality TV candidate, Worship explores the underside of the PAF, far from the glitter and the glasses of champagne. No need to have sanded all the seasons of Reality TV Angels to understand the extent of the phenomenon. Love it or hate it, the subject has already concerned us all at least once.
TV more than reality
Let it be said: the story brought to the screen by Anaïde Rozam and César Domboy is inspired by real events, but happily detaches itself from them. Through the eyes of Karim, Isabelle and Loana, fiction takes precedence over reality. This is so much the better: the risk of Worship was to offer a version that was too watered down, or on the contrary too condescending, of the events. Except that the series is not a documentary, not really a biopic either. In this fiction inspired by very real events, the characters mix, the border between memory and fantasy becomes blurred. Worship is like reality TV: the most important thing is not that it is trueis that viewers believe it.
And we have to admit that the story works. The most observant will appreciate the accuracy with which certain scenes are reproduced – with particular mention of the meticulous work of the props and costume designers on the project, but Worship does not need to summon the nostalgia of an entire generation to burst onto the screen. By succeeding in combining falsehood with truth, the Amazon series hits the mark. It will also have no trouble finding its audience: each year, the PAF broadcasts more than 11,000 hours of reality TV. A figure that is largely underestimated when we know the success of programs now accessible from streaming platforms, like Frenchie Shorewhich caused panic even in ministerial circles at the time of its broadcast.
Authentic characters
This accuracy is particularly felt in a brilliant casting choice, both in form and substance. Marie Colomb embodies a larger than life Loana, never in one-upmanship or judgment. Rather than mocking a woman thrown to the media for more than twenty years, the actress pays her a beautiful tribute, sometimes complacent, but far from the idealism dripping with good feelings that one could expect from a French production.
The first lofter in the history of the PAF suffered the cast of a sprawling industry born on televisionit is ultimately thanks to the small screen that she finds her media redemption. We are not surprised to see that Loana Petrucciani participated in the adventure as a consultant, in order to inject her own memories into the story. The one whose physique, history and speeches have so often been mocked becomes a young woman with a battered past, sacrificed on the altar of audiences.
Make no mistake, it is not Loana who plays the title role. If the young woman occupies a central place in the plot, she evolves mostly implicitly, like a fantasy whose contours we never really touch. At the center of the scene is the character played by Anaïde Rozam who bursts the screen. The young woman, very largely inspired by Alexia Laroche-Joubert, plays the long-toothed apprentice producer. Cynical, ambitious and ready to do anything to achieve her ends, the character never really mistreats her model – the opposite would have been surprising, when we know that Alexia Laroche-Joubert is herself a producer of the series – but offers a interesting introspection.
Rather than going to the psychologist every week, perhaps the solution is to produce a series about your career. The fact remains that the main character is, once again, barely screaming. Anaïde Rozam’s performance hits the mark, and the setbacks of a young producer, forced to bare her claws in a world of men who despise her, sounds like a sadly current subject. Twenty years later, nothing really changes.
On the other side of the screen
During the six episodes in this first season, the series invites us to see behind the scenes. Less theatrical that Unreal who told a Bachelor fantasy, Worship forget the candidates to ask questions about those who make the Loft. Because if there’s one thing the series doesn’t lie about, it’s that dramas often play out outside the homewhere the cameras are off.
Broadcast since October 18 on Prime Video, the license does not intend to stop there. After Loft Storyseason 2 of Worship thought of as an anthology, will focus on the musical group 2B3. The opportunity to bring out our CDs and our butterfly clips.
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