Whoopi Goldberg Has a New Name for HBO’s ‘The White Lotus’: “The Caucasian Lotus”
While Mike White’s hit HBO show is known as The White Lotus, Whoopi Goldberg has another name for it.
While introducing a segment on a recent episode of The View, the EGOT winner said, “The White Lotus — or, The Caucasian Lotus, as I call it — is about ultra-rich people going to exotic locations. But, there’s a conversation from the latest episode that a lot of Americans can relate to these days.”
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The conversation from episode three that Goldberg was referencing saw the trio of complicated friends who reunited for a girls trip in Thailand — played by Leslie Bibb (Kate), Carrie Coon (Laurie) and Michelle Monaghan (Jaclyn) — learn that one of them, Kate, voted for Donald Trump in the presidential election.
This got The View panel discussing the very real challenges of navigating friendships with opposite political views in today’s heated political climate.
While Alyssa Farah Griffin feels “if you know people to their core and know their values and why they decided [the way they did], you can respect them and co-exist with them supporting somebody you didn’t,” Joy Behar maintains that it’s bigger than just who you voted for.
“It’s not just about politics,” Behar said. “It’s about morality, ethics, it’s about cruelty, it’s about discrimination and it’s about a lot of things so those are personal human values.”
As Goldberg wrapped up the discussion, she noted that none of these issues are new as “the racists and the misogynists have always been here,” which is why it’s important for people to focus on things they can control in their personal lives.
“Maybe some of what’s happening, like they’re [the Trump administration] trying to take apart the Department of Education, maybe that is a good thing because maybe it’ll force us to make sure that our kids actually get what they need,” The Color Purple actress said. “This is now in our hands, and it’s going to be tough and nobody wants to do it because it’s a bitch, but you know what? If it comes down to your survival, this is what you’ve got to do.”
While the Trump vote scene is timely, Bibb previously told Entertainment Weekly that it was actually filmed before Trump announced he was running for re-election. “I feel like Mike had binoculars into the future because when we did it, it just didn’t feel [timely anymore],” she explained. “I was like, ‘We already did that. That was in the past.’ I don’t even think Trump was running when we did it — it was in January or February of last year or something, so yeah, that was pretty wild.”
As for Goldberg’s “The Caucasian Lotus” remark, the actress didn’t expand on what she meant by it. However, she could be referring to the fact that the majority of the vacationers in The White Lotus season three are white, while those playing the employees are mainly people of color or Thai, as the latest installment takes place in Thailand.
The decision to highlight inequality in season three isn’t new for creator Mike White as he also put a spotlight on the disconnect between the Native Hawaiian staff and the privileged white vacationers in season one. Natasha Rothwell, who reprised her season one role as Belinda for the new season, has also opened up about an intentional moment in episode one when her character sees a Black couple staying at the resort and exchanges knowing glances with them (Belinda was a White Lotus employee in season one, but is both a visitor and a trainee in season three).
“I pitched that to Mike, actually. I can’t stress how incredible Mike is in terms of collaboration,” Rothwell told Vanity Fair last month of the season three scene. “When I talked to him about being Black while traveling, I mentioned this story. I was traveling in Ireland, and I was at some castle at the top of some hill and it was misty, and there wasn’t a Black face in sight. And this Black family emerges from the mist and I lock eyes with them, and we started walking toward each other and hugged.”
She continued, “When you see Black people traveling, it lets you know you’re allowed to be in those spaces. In that moment when Belinda sees this very affluent Black couple walking in — never having gotten a check from the White Lotus as an employee — it allows her to fantasize and project herself onto that possibility, which I think is why I feel so passionate about Black travel and visibility. I was so glad when I saw that in the script.”
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