Rich People Problems | An Analysis of The White Lotus

Spoiler-filled discussion/analysis of The White Lotus

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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:25 Summary/main players
2:07 Class hierarchy
12:44 Victims revolt
19:23 Fate of the workers
28:50 Rich people problems
33:57 Gender roles
38:11 End

[musicamaxima]

The saddest part for me was not even seeing Kai after he ran away. Out of sight out of mind. A terrifying, viscerally real take.

[joemamacool]

I do not see Paula as a victim, I see Kai as the victim in this Situation

[goluiajohnson]

Seeing Belinda with a dead-eyed stare before putting on that huge fake smile at the end seriously broke my heart. 😭

[meljay]

There was one rich character who chose to actively change his life situation. Quinn! He chose to stay and embrace a life completely different then what he was living.

[Nikimouse]

I used to work front desk at a Marriott in a nice beach resort city in California. This show literally nailed it. The clientele we had were rich traveling business men during off season, and on season were rich families/couples coming for the beach. Literally, I have dealt with so many Shane’s and Tanya’s. I have had the richest people complain that parking was $35 a night, and would never pass up a moment to mention it as they saw me at the front desk, then accusing us of running their stay. I have had Tanya’s take a liking to me and offer me like jobs, chances to stay at their vacation houses around the world, free products, etc, and of course nothing came of it. These people wanted to offer what they had because it made them feel good to be giving, and once the stay was over they would totally forget. I never took it to heart because I knew what they were doing. But yea, as former hotel worker, they nailed that dynamic of hotel worker and guest. The way Tanya asked for support while she spread her mothers ashes, was the same way I sat with a random lady for an hour bc her husband died 6 month ago. For her week stay I became her like emotional rock. And I’m not mad about it because I believe in being kind, but I do find it very interesting.

[amay]

Something I found interesting about the Paula/Kai situation is that, although she sees herself differently from Olivia's family, she's just as bad as them and the "white people" who stole Kai's family's land. She used Kai and was prepared to discard him to go back to her "regular" life just like everyone on thr vacation used the island/islanders and then go back to their lives.

[gabigabigabi]

if paula actually wanted to help Kai she could've given him her own money though. or at least stealing the bracelet herself. the way she chose to deal with the situation made her seem like she was trying to get some sort of revenge over olivia without getting her hands dirty (she also never took the blame or tried to help him after he was caught)

[walqqr]

Olivia is so annoying and hypocritical. I loved the scene when her dad calls her out on that asking if she would give away her money and privilege for the cause she claims to believe in, and obviously she goes silent because her hypocrisy got exposed.

[justday]

Watching how Quinn suffered internally by his own family’s chaos and over time chose the life he really wanted was satisfying to follow and watch.

[larbot]

Paula is definitely a terrible person. She put Kai in that position talking him into it, and then when she knew he was going to be caught did absolutely nothing to stop it because she knew that would get her into trouble. She washed her hands of it, sailing off with her wealthy friend to go back to a far more priveleged life than Kai ever had. He was just a vacation for her. He has to live with this for the rest of his life.

[MichaelWilliams-ssty]

Belinda was gifted money at the end. However, I understand her frustration as it comes nowhere near as having your WHOLE BUSINESS funded and supported. She was tired of being a rag to wipe rich women's tears

[magdalenaf]

Belinda knew that Rachel would come back with her husband soon or later....Maybe she has heard the same monologue about being a trophy wife thousand of times ..That explains her answer xD

[pearlosibu]

It’s ironic but even Ammond could not remember the name of the pregnant staff.

[strawberrycatastrofy]

When Armond partakes in the lotus plant (drink, drugs, recreation) it is his poison and his undoing. He cannot BE one of the lotus eaters, we can only serve them. That his life begins to fall apart as he falls off the wagon is textually a story of addiction but thematically about the kind of life he is "allowed" to live in comparison to the rich guests.

[tysirrah]

I think Rachel went back to Shane because even in the short amount of time she was with him she got addicted to the privledge of being wealthy. She was either going to choose her independence or the money. She chose the money in the end. Just like Mark said "no one willing ceades thier privledge, it goes against human nature." She would rather be miserable and rich, than poor and independant.

[dangernoodle]

Olivia has feelings for Paula. It's just obvious imo. That is the real reason she goes after every guy she likes. Not because she's jealous that a Paula has a guy, but because she's jealous that the guy has Paula.

[tobiwan]

Olivia and Paula are extremely unlikable. They are both entitled, clueless and arrogant. Olivia hates her parents and her brother while Paula exploits Kai and he goes to jail for her ideas.

[calisongbird]

This is a mostly really good, well-nuanced analysis. However, dismissing Mark’s upset over a possible cancer diagnosis as “first world problems” is pretty heartless and insensitive - anyone would be very scared in that situation, especially someone whose father died prematurely from it (as Mark thought at the time). Having a direct blood relative who died young from a disease like cancer significantly increases one’s own risk. That’s why medical professionals ask about family history of diseases.

And learning that his father had actually died from AIDS and not from cancer, as a result of a secret gay sex life, is also legitimately destabilizing personal news to Mark. His father was not who he thought he was. It’s not homophobic to admit that, and it’s not “first world problems” either. Mark learns that his father had not only lived a lie, but died from a devastating disease directly resulting from that lie.

[daisydove]

My takeaway from white lotus would be that bad judgement has consequences, but rich people can afford to be wrong. We can blame paula but kai is the one who decided to steal, blame shane but armand did not admit his mistake thay he booked the wrong room for him, shane asked for a nice dinner, armand sent him to funeral boat instead, shane is an asshole but armand too.

[Earthstar]

I felt so bad for Quinn at first when they made him sleep in the kitchen. The dynamic between Paula and Olivia seems ingenuine times but in a real way. I felt different emotions for every character.
I felt afraid for Rachel because of how the show started with her husband (that I loathed) at the airport and the coorelation between her being gone and the corpse going onto the plane.
I was always uneasy/ anxious when Amon was on screen.
Dread for Belinda and I felt every piece of frustration in that woman.
Everybody's performance was amazing and I think this is one of the best written shows I have seen in a while. Casting was perfect for this.