By Josemaría Moreno
The third season of The White Lotus has just concluded. This HBO phenomenon, created and written by Mike White, reinvents the classic detective narrative formula by revealing a death in the very first scene, compelling viewers to uncover not only whodunit but—perhaps more importantly—who the victim was and why it happened.
The formula has been a resounding success, as evidenced by the viewership numbers for the season finale: 6 million worldwide. Yet some critics wonder whether Mike White has strayed from The White Lotus´ core premise: to sharply and darkly humorously assert that the rich are to blame for everything that´s wrong in this planet.
While this latest season may have lacked a standout hotel staff member who directly clashed with the ultra-wealthy guests—the manager from Season 1 remains a fan favorite, as countless Reddit posts attest—it would be inaccurate to say that White’s approach has deviated from its original intent: exposing the superficiality of the economic elite to critique their socially (self-)destructive potential. Without giving away spoilers, this stance is perfectly encapsulated by the character played by the impeccable Parker Posey (complete with her Southern drawl and Lorazepam withdrawal), who smugly remarks to her daughter: “No one in the history of the world has lived better than us, even the old kings and queens. The least we can do is enjoy it. If we don´t, it´s offensive.”
No, ma’am—thousands, millions of people, would vehemently disagree with you. The least you could do is pay progressive taxes commensurate with your obscene, ill-gotten wealth, instead of globetrotting like classless monarchs, eroding the cultural charm of every place you touch, and—like an invasive species—reshaping local livelihoods, wages, and economies into something the natives must helplessly absorb just to survive in these so-called “paradises” you frequent… places you probably couldn’t even locate on a map.
