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Analysis
There are only two more episodes left of The White Lotus, and while I was a little disappointed with the second installment of the Mike White-created series (or rather, the five episodes critics received for review), I have more recently seen signs that people are engaged: memes.
Jokes about the season 2 theme song—a variation on the first season’s—filled TikTok over the last couple weeks, as did fan theories and possible origin stories. People tied White Lotus memes into the World Cup, and called out twerp behavior.
A lot of the memes seem to be coming from TikTok, perhaps a sign that the current experience of being on Twitter is driving away some of the TV discourse that’s long lived there.
Ben McKenzie recently quoted a tweet about sending the cast of The O.C.to a White Lotus hotel in season 3, which is kind of funny considering that, a decade before White created and starred in HBO’s Enlightened, he did a short-lived series for Fox called Pasadena, about a wealthy family in Southern California. (The O.C. came out two years later on Fox.)
Why it matters
This fall, we have additional critiques of the rich and narcissistic in Triangle of Sadness, Glass Onion, and The Menu. The White Lotus was just renewed for season 3, and one meme format going aroundhas suggestions for who should stay at the hotel next, and where it should take place.
But the memes also offered a chance to critique how white The White Lotus is. In response to a prompt about who fans would like to see cast next season, a White Lotus fan account replied: “black people.”