Thread by @KamilKarczewski

As a historian of sexuality who lived six years in Italy, I loved the 2nd season of #thewhitelotus. There is a lot of history behind seemingly random motifs. It doesn’t only drive the season’s plot but also gives some clues to what to expect next. 🧵 (spoilers) 1/20 twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

1)The location is not incidental. The series was shot in several places in Sicily (Cefalu, Palermo, Noto), but #thewhitelotus hotel is in Taormina. In the 19th century, the town became one of the first sex tourism destinations in Europe. And the 2nd season is all about sex. 2/20

All begins when Wilhelm von Gloeden, a German aristocrat and photographer, settles in Taormina in the late 1870s. His photos of local boys stylized to resemble ephebes from ancient Greece spread across Europe, become a hit, and a part of homosexual (sub)culture. 3/20

Not only Taormina becomes a place that many imagine as a Mediterranean paradise populated with boys who have spent time indulging in pederasty since at least the time of Plato, but in fact Sicily tuns out to be a place relatively tolerant towards same-sex affairs. 4/20 twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Unlike most of northern Europe, southern Italy does not criminalize homosexuality at that time, and sexual relations between adolescent men seem to have been accepted to some extent. So, it is not surprising that when Oscar Wilde is released from prison in 1897, 5/20

he goes to Taormina to take a respite from puritanical England, just as many other rich homosexuals from northern Europe. 2) The idle life of high-end gays in #thewhitelotus is inspired by the real stories of homosexual northern European aristocrats visiting Taormina 6/20

at the turn of the 20th c., and it’s hard not to see Wilde’s aesthetics in Quentin’s decadent approach to life. Quentin on his yacht follows the example of von Gloeden, a photographer who transformed Taormina from a fishing village into a homosexual resort. 7/20

3) This is where Tanya comes in as a fag hag. Disillusioned, of low self-esteem but narcistic, Tanya is a glutton for admiration. When she gets it, it seems to arise from a selfless friendship, but turns out to be deceitful. Is Greg homosexual? Is he with Tanya for money? 8/20

If so, she stands for all women who have married homosexual men without their knowledge and consent. And all those who have been adored by men for all the wrong reasons (beauty, money). Tanya is going to take revenge for them. 9/20

4) Though, Tanya must die as well. Why? Because she’s an operatic character, and tragic deaths belong in opera as much as opera belongs in Italy (and gay culture—think e.g. about the movie “Philadelphia”). This is the destination of Tanya. 10/20

Her shooting spree is her exit aria: she defends herself, becomes courageous and independent. In fact, in the last scene, Tanya stops being a tragic character craving for love and attention of others and becomes a fighter, she fights for herself. 11/20

At the end of Puccini’s (I told you it’s all about Italy!) opera “La Bohème,” the dying protagonist sings to her lover: “There are so many things I want to tell you, or really just one, but it’s vast and deep and infinite like the ocean (!): You are my love and my life.” 12/20

In a way, Tanya finds self-love by fighting for her life. Her character’s story is fulfilled and finished. Btw, the last opera that Tanya sees is “Madame Butterfly,” another tragic story, this time about an abandoned woman who takes her own life. 13/20

But Madame Butterfly is outlived by her child, which might suggest that Portia is going to continue Tanya’s fate given the last thoughts that Tanya shared with Portia: “When I see you, I see a younger version of me”. 14/20

5) So, what happened to Taormina, the gay paradise? Just like in #thewhitelotus, there were complex and brutal power relations behind the appearance of beauty. Taormina became largely financially dependent on von Gloeden. He provided the town with jobs, money, and fame. 15/20

Local young men were often seen as sexually available for the rich tourists. They were sexualised and objectified. Their poverty and the hard work of fishing were sentimentally presented as bucolic. Their lives were aestheticized with no regard for their real hardship. 16/20

The economy of Taormina depended on (sex) tourism. In #thewhitelotus the character of Lucia draws on this part of Taormina’s history. She takes her revenge for the past: she uses the white, rich men by telling them stories they want to believe (of love and beauty). 17/20

Certainly, there is a lot of (historical) justice in the redistribution of capital organised by Lucia. 18/20

6) #thewhitelotus refers more than once to Italian culture. E.g. the scene in Nato, when Harper feels observed by men in the street is a remake of a scene from the 1960 movie “The Adventure” with Monica Vitti, 19/20

whom Tanya tries to copy in the funniest scene of the series, when Valentina calls her Peppa Pig. There is more to unpack here, but this is my first thread and it’s been long enough. I hope it was fun to read. 20/20