The White Lotus was strangely accurate in showing service workers being treated as subhuman

Eater

Mike White's HBO series resort satire shows what happens when service workers are pushed over the edge, says Amy McCarthy. "It’s Armond and his staff’s unraveling that provide the most compelling moments in The White Lotus," says McCarthy. "Through their trials, it’s revealed how the seemingly effortless glitz and glamour that make this luxury hotel come to life aren’t effortless at all. What the wealthy take for granted comes at the cost of the workers’ ambitions and sanity. The series comes to offer a strangely accurate and intimate look into both the way that service industry workers are treated, and how they cope (or not) with being consistently treated as subhuman or props by people who earn more money in a week than they’ll ever see in a lifetime. There’s no character that makes that more evident than Armond who, at the beginning of the series, boasts five years of sobriety. Throughout the series he is harangued by Shane, who didn’t end up in the room he booked and spends an incredible amount of energy complaining about it throughout his stay. He hunts Armond relentlessly, demanding additional perks to make up for the room switcheroo. In a satisfying moment of retaliation, Armond books Shane and Rachel on what they think will be a romantic dinner cruise until the delightfully unhinged Tanya shows up with plans to spread her dead mother’s ashes across the water and expects them to participate as she melts down both hilariously and painfully. Armond’s sly move is familiar to real-life service industry workers who’ve longed and occasionally managed to score their own petty victories over customers with unreasonable demands. We’ve all heard the trope about servers and fast food workers spitting in food to exact revenge, but the real revenge comes in much quieter ways. It happens when a guest’s name 'accidentally' doesn’t make it onto the books at a hot new restaurant, or they end up shoved in the back corner of the dining room after demanding the 'best table in the house' on a last-minute reservation. Whether at a fancy resort or Michelin-starred restaurant or even McDonald’s, working in an establishment where 'the customer is always right' comes with an incredible amount of pressure. In the real world, workers in these industries are more prone to substance use and mental health diagnoses like depression and anxiety disorders are rampant. Working in these environments creates a demand for catharsis, and that’s exactly why it’s no surprise that the workers at the White Lotus choose to blow off steam in a truly wide range of debauched ways, including analingus and snorting ketamine in the manager’s office."

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