Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Rdw72777 t1_j1jtohw wrote

Reply to comment by Yamsforyou in White Lotus is a very, very terrible show. by [deleted]

I mean she didn’t fold or fawn to beautiful people, she was forced to accept the escorts because Imperioli made her and he was hardly beautiful. She was quite repulsed by the escorts personally/professionally, until magically she wasn’t, because the girl she was repulsed by acknowledged she was a lesbian and offered her sex when she was at her lowest moment. Recall leading up to that she realized the other front desk attendant she had a crush on didn’t realize she was a lesbian and that it was a date.

2

Yamsforyou t1_j1jw4np wrote

In my interpretation, she was clearly the hardworking manager with a stick up her ass always scrambling to have things perfect. She barked orders and didn't particularly care for anyone except the receptionist she had a crush on. She didn't openly identify herself as a lesbian because social stigma/cultural stigma especially with the higher place of authority she held in the hotel in a country with a terrible employment rate. The singer gave her an "out" from that feeling through offering to be her "girlfriend". She's repulsed by the fact these women chose to be escorts but she's not repulsed by the women themselves.

The receptionist was already taken and actively flirting with her fiance everyday at work so it's not surprising she didn't really notice her boss giving her gifts was pursuing her romantically. And after having sex with the singer, the manager quite happily lets the couple be. In my opinion, the manager never really made it obvious that she was pursuing her - women at work give eachother gifts all the time where I'm from.

2

Rdw72777 t1_j1k8xs4 wrote

The issue with that is that she wasn’t particularly hardworking and had barely any interaction with guests. Did any action she was actually shown taking was actually to improve the customer experience? Her barking at both male reception guys, cozying to the female reception person, switching the make reception guys and then switching back, etc were just all based on personal dislike with no regard for guests. Even her own interactions with Imperioli she was standoffish and she was obnoxious to/about Tanya.

Contrast that with season 1 when Armond was all over the place with trying to please customers and get the best out of staff (literally) and then the poor spa manager was essentially Tanya’s unpaid Portia. They really made the S2 resort manager almost useless and not acting in the interests of anyone but herself. In that vein I’m not even sure, after watching S2, what made that hotel experience better than a Hampton Inn except the location; when did anyone at the resort do anything spectacular for guests…arranging for a Vespa or maybe terrible lounge singing…lol?

2

Yamsforyou t1_j1kb6zd wrote

Fair point. I took her title and willingness to order around her coworkers as her having some sort of reputation that would have earned her the spot. She's also the one that spots the escorts first, when the other staff don't notice and the one of the first hotel responders to the original pianist's heart attack, and the one to be filled in about the dead bodies floating in the water. Clearly chain of command is very strong despite the fact she treats them like trash.

What I saw was a lonely woman who only had her work going for her, who gets progressively more creepy as her crush develops. I understand how others could see her as a more malicious character than that. I do appreciate that both managers from season 1 and 2 offered what they did with consenting parties though. Even though they both leveraged their position and the benefits they could give through work, it wasn't a situation of heinousness, more like transactional opportunity.

Also, everyone was obnoxious about Tanya lol. It's her whole character arc that she just doesn't understand how her sensitivities and personal asks imposes on literally everyone around her. Even the spa lady got tired of her.

I agree Armond was a much better hotel manager from the optics of the clientele, but that's why the robbery plot in season 1 was relevant. To a degree, the people working at the hotel (the native people) were oppressed and forced to serve the rich white clients that gave them their livelihood. While in Italy, none of that culture was present. The clientele and the staff weren't on such widely different planes of social class. The staff in Italy were allowed to flirt on the clock, whisper about clients, openly give disapproving looks to the clientele (when Albies dad signed the escorts in), and so forth. I think the show was very conscientious about the respective backgrounds of the resort locations and the people who naturally live and work there.

2

Rdw72777 t1_j1kbwe8 wrote

I didn’t even find her creepy, she was just adult-awkward. The broach purchase like 1-2 days after the compliment and mention of the shop was on the line but I don’t think she realized what she was doing with that (though she did with Rocco’s banishment). All in all her character was a bit of a shoulder shrug fir me, but Armond set the bar too damn high (and low) in S1 lol.

The resort seemed so average that I just had to pretend it was not high end so honestly none of the staff behavior even mattered, which I was fine with, but it’s such a huge contrast to S1.

2