In a world saturated with series that try to say too much without saying anything, “The White Lotus” It appeared as an anomaly. A miniseries of HBO Filmed in full pandemic, in a luxury resort in Hawaii, with just six episodes and a content, almost minimalist. No one expected much, not even their own protagonists, some of whom confessed to having accepted the papers “because they had free time during confinement.”
However, what was born as a satire about privilege tourism ended up climbing positions in public conversation as a snowball. Critics, influencers, academics and anonymous users of Tiktok began to dissect each plane and each dialogue of Jennifer Coolidgetoday turned into a kind of generational guru without proposing it.
Released in July 2021, the series created by Mike White (“School of Rock” actor and former participant of “Survivor”)he had a premise as simple as uncomfortable: families, couples and upper class individuals who reach a luxury resort to disconnect from a world that encapsates not to leave them alone. Structural racism, microvision, progressive hypocrisy, millennial narcissism and high -class neurosis, all sifted with a soundtrack that mixes tribal songs with Hitchcockian tension.
Sudden success. The first season reaped an unexpected audience for such an acidic product. According to HBO data, the end of the season was seen by more than 10 million viewers in its first month, between live broadcasts and streamings, multiplying the audience of episode one by five. The second season, set in Sicily, was even more explosive: 15 million global visualizations and a brainstorm in networks that made every Sunday a world event.
For his part, Instagram was filled with memes of all its protagonists. Those of Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) firing from a moving yacht as if it were Lara Croft under reassuring effects chopped in tip. Twitter (today x) also exploded with conspiracy theories about “who was going to die this time” and in Tiktok user videos imitating the gestures of another of its protagonist, Aubrey PlazaThey became viral. In a world where the series lasts what an algorithm dictates, “The White Lotus” achieved the miracle of maintaining sustained attention week after week.
Keys The event of the series is largely due to the aura of Jennifer Coolidgewhose interpretation of Tanya Mcquoid It earned him an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a kind of emotional consecration by a generation that adopted it as a pop icon. When he took the stage to receive his prize, he not only confirmed that the character was an amplified reflection of herself, but turned his speech into a viral piece that circulated even among those who never saw the series. In total, the series has won 10 Emmy awards, including better miniseries and best script, in addition to two golden balloons and a dozen SAG Awards nominationsthe United States Actor Union Awards. But beyond the awards, its real impact is how it managed to reconfigure the serial-evidence without the need for desperate cliffhangers, but with a genuine black humor, which likes and repels at the same time.
Real disubication. Like any cultural phenomenon that boasts of such, the series was the target of parodies and more or less failed reinterpretations. But none as ruthless as the one dedicated by the North American program “Saturday Night Live”, With a sketch that went viral instantly. In him, the comedian Chloe Fineman He offered an imitation of Tanya that achieved the miracle of being ridiculous and moving at the same time, with his choppy phrases, his erratic walk and that voice of an eternally lost woman. The sketch did not spare in references: the music of the intro, the walks through white corridors, the existentialist speeches without recipient and the presence of Bowen Yang as a new “manipulative concierge” that guided guests to their own emotional collapse.
The sketch exceeded 4 million visualizations in a week and was shared by actors from the real cast, who not only laughed at the joke, but assumed it as a kind of pop cult certificate. But not all reactions were positive or just as enthusiasts. This week, in another parody called “The White Potus”, the British actress Aimee Lou Wood expressed his discomfort after being ridiculed by the humorist Sarah Sherman cruel and unnecessary. The cybernauts also pointed it out as hurtful and out of tune. Thus, the program showed that its satire does not always achieve the delicate balance between humor and tribute.
With the third season already released, this time set in Thailand, between Buddhist temples and Western tourists seeking redemption in spiritual retreats of 5 thousand dollars a night, the series consolidated its place among the preferences of the public. Since its premiere on February 16 of this year, each chapter was simultaneously accompanied by millions of messages on social networks such as Instagram, X and Tiktok.
At a time when the series are born to be forgotten in two weeks, “The White Lotus” achieved otherwise: grow, bother, make it laugh with guilt, and float in collective cultural memory as a expensive and slightly poisonous perfume. It is not just a series. It is a mirror. A expensive one, decorated with bamboo and with a sea view, but mirror at last.
