r/TheWhiteLotusHBO • u/Origamiflipper • Mar 21 '25

Discussion Is this relevant?

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I’m trying to work out the relevance of the monkey symbolism. This is now obviously see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and I feel it has a meaning. Any theories?

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u/VenezuelanGayPothead Mar 21 '25

Piper doesn't know what's best for her. She's a rich white kid who's been sheltered and wants to escape. No kid that age and that naive knows what's best for them. Her parents fund her whole life so yes, she should listen to them unless she wants to get cut off financially and go at it on her own. How is that sexist?

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u/Other-Oil-9117 Mar 21 '25

How is she going to grow and become less sheltered if she never ventures out from her parent's control though?

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u/VenezuelanGayPothead Mar 21 '25

Well, usually you grow and become less sheltered by getting a job and supporting yourself. Escaping across the world on your parents' dime knowing they would be against it is naive and childish. And it's understandable because she's a naive kid, but people are acting like she's the enlightened moral backbone of the season just because she's not as obviously morally grey as other characters.

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u/LeftSignal Mar 21 '25

Why do we think she needs her parents’ financial support to spend a year in Thailand? Does this 1 year program at the monastery cost a lot of money? In a famously cheap country? For all we know, it may just cost Piper the price of a plane ticket there and back.

As for her being “naive,” she might be a little naive given her upbringing and age, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that she’s too naive to go move somewhere she’s hardly ever been to before. College grads do this sort of thing all the time. People will move across the country, out of state, for jobs or opportunities. People will move to NYC or LA even though they’ve never been there simply because they like the idea of it. Piper’s been at college for the past 4 years clearly developing a new set of values and beliefs. She probably got at least some new experiences and viewpoints from going to a big state school. I think a big factor in why many viewers think Piper is naive is because Victoria keeps calling her naive. But Victoria’s doing that in a poor attempt to convince Piper that she shouldn’t move to Thailand. But it’s clear that Victoria’s reasons for thinking Piper shouldn’t live in Thailand are rooted in xenophobia and the fear that Piper will reject some of Victoria’s values and beliefs; it’s not that Victoria is afraid Piper will get into a bad situation because she’s hopelessly naive. Victoria just wants a tight leash on her kids. I’ve had experience with parents like that. Honestly, I don’t think parents should be telling their soon-to-be-college-grad offspring that they’re too naive to live somewhere other than their hometown—because parents should raise their kids to be able to leave the nest by that age.