HBO’s ‘The Deuce’ Is A Show About Gratuitous Sex, Porn, and The Reality Of Misogyny

HBO gave critics their first look at the premium cable network’s newest gritty drama, The Deuce, at their Summer 2017 TCA presentation. The Deuce, which was created by  The Wire‘s David Simon and George Pelecanos, takes viewers back to the vice-ridden world of 1970s Times Square. The ensemble piece introduces us to a web of characters who find themselves caught up in the birth of porn. James Franco stars as twins Vincent and Frankie Martino, Lawrence Gilliard, Jr. plays a benevolent NYPD detective Chris Alston, and Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Candie, a hooker trying to make her way on the streets without the help (or hindrance) of a pimp. The ninety-minute-long premiere episode is directed by Michelle MacLaren, who was also on hand at the panel.

In the past, HBO has come under fire for the way many of the network’s dramas include scenes of gratuitous sexual violence against women. At one point, a critic in the crowd asked the panel how they decided to approach this topic — in a show that covers the seedy rise of porn — and star Maggie Gyllenhaal asked if she could be the first to speak up.

The star said in exquisite deadpan, “I think it’s become clear in a way, maybe in a way it wasn’t totally clear a year ago, that there’s a huge amount of misogyny in the world.” The line, a clear reference to the 2016 Presidential Election and the rippling effect it had on our culture, drew laughs from the room. Gyllenhaal went on to explain: “I mean I think we thought we were in a better place than we were. And here we have this opportunity to pick it up and lay it on the table and to do it in a way that’s thoughtful and smart, I think, and also real.”

David Simon then chimed in and said that it was important for them to face the issue of misogyny head on. “The answer I would give is you portray it by being direct,” he said. “I think it would be a mistake to watch the episodes and to think we were in any way trafficking in misogynistic imagery or sexual commodification or objectification as the currencies driving the show. It’s not the currency; It’s what the show’s about. It’s the show’s reason for being.”

Gyllenhaal then added that “if the show also turns you on, though, and then makes you consider what’s actually turning you on, and the consequences for the people and the characters turning you on, then I think it’s a better show.”

Gyllenhaal’s character Eileen “Candy” Merrell was inspired by many of the women who were on the forefront of the porn movement, positioned as symbols of female sexual liberation, though “Candy” also represents the women who had creative input in porn’s early days. Franco plays two characters, twin brothers involved in porn’s rise, and one of them was based on a character who helped provide inspiration for the series itself. The man had 90 hours of recordings recounting the time, and Franco says he was “dreaming about meeting someone like the creator of The Wire to tell his story.”

Much of The Deuce‘s oomph, whether it’s its disgusting look at the streets of New York City or its ability to twist sex scenes away from a leering gaze, is thanks to the pilot’s director Michelle MacLaren. Simon and Pelecanos explained that they wanted the “visionary” director and had to wait for her to wrap her work with Breaking Bad. Pelecanos said, “It wasn’t that we settled on her. We wanted her.”

When pressed on what The Deuce was trying to say, Simon quoted old boss David Chase, saying, “If I can tell you in a paragraph, I wouldn’t have to do the movie.”

The Deuce debuts on HBO on September 10.