White Lotus fans keep making fun of Portia, but they’re missing the point

Portia, a young girl trying to find her purpose in life is only a small part of the many people who love her. The White Lotus can’t seem to cut her a break.

Played by Haley Lu Richardson, Portia is among the new faces to grace HBO’s comedy-drama The White LotusIt is now in its second season. The story is set in an all-inclusive luxury resort along the beautiful coast of Sicily. Portia, who comes to the resort fresh out of community college, finds her way to the high-end locale because she’s assistant to multimillionaire Tanya McQuoid, played by a smoky-voiced and unpredictable Jennifer Coolidge. As a normal, non-rich person, Portia’s character contrasts with the lavish guests around her, and yet many fans online have criticized the character for her fashion taste, personality, and even romantic decisions. It’s all part of a long and tired tradition of fans ripping female characters to shreds, especially when they don’t have it all figured out. And it’s a symptom of the fan tendency to evaluate whether a character is “good” or “annoying” — rather than considering how she fits into the story.

The criticisms started with Portia’s outfits. People admired her style. She wore loose-fitting cargo pants with a bucket hat and paired them with more traditional Y2K clothing. A zebra-print bikini with rainbow knit top and bolero top was one of her most famous offenses. Fans online wore exaggerated versions of her outfits, calling them “Portia-core,” and dragged her for her lack of taste. One comedy account even joked that the costume designer, Alex Bovaird — a tenured costume designer who has worked on award-winning films like NopeAnd Wallflowers: The Perks — should be demoted for Portia’s outfits.

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And the criticism didn’t stop at her fashion sense. One popular TikTok uses an audio clip that says, “And now I want to sit back and relax and enjoy my evening, when all of a sudden I hear this agitating, grating voice.” As the voice says “agitating,” the video clip focuses on Portia. Additionally, fans scrutinized Portia’s romantic choices, like her decision to make out with a guy who has a neck tattoo, instead of picking the standard nice guy who went to Stanford, Albie Di Grasso.

Fans are ultimately criticizing Portia’s lack of wealth and ability to socialize with the elite class. What are her outfits like? It’s not luxurious enough. Her taste in men? Trashy. Her demeanor? She is not cool or collected.

However, this is missing the point. Portia is a community college grad who is young and being thrown into a level of luxury that most normal people won’t ever experience in their lifetimes. It makes sense she doesn’t look as good as the other characters — like a super-rich stay-at-home wife, or the wealthy and sharp-witted attorney played by Aubrey Plaza. In an interview with Variety, Bovaird said that Portia’s costume was intended to convey a character who is still figuring herself out, and who didn’t have as much money as the other characters. “She’s young, she doesn’t really know who she is, and she’s trying on different ideas. Sometimes she dresses more dainty, and sometimes she dresses like a boy,” Bovaird said.

But online fan discussion isn’t centered on basic questions about her motivations as a character, or how her character fits into the story. Fans seem to be more interested in theorizing about characters or shipping Portia along with Albie, than they are with the craft of the story.

It misunderstands personal dislike for characters for the notion that she is not well-written. Instead, it focuses on questions such as Do I personally like Portia’s sense of style?And Do you think Portia would be a good friend?Instead of wondering why Portia looks and acts the way that she does, ask why. This story might be made more interesting by her presence in the elite space as the sole non-rich individual.

Of course, maybe Portia simply doesn’t land with young viewers in a way that feels true to their experiences. Portia is given a flighty quality by Haley Lu Richardson. This gives her scenes an unsettling feeling. On a date with Albie, she speaks out about the things she desires in a relationship. While holding a pristine glass of white wine, she says she wants to have “fun.” She goes on, “I’m sick of fucking TikTok and — and Bumble, and just… screens and apps and sitting there bingeing Netflix. And I just… I just wanna like, live.”

Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO

Scenes like these make her appear confused and insecure. Portia feels a little off and, to be honest with you, a lot cringey, just like all the other guests at White Lotus resort. Conversations between guests are social satire. They present their horror in a way that isn’t the death at the hotel. Portia is not an exception. She’s a jerk just like every other hotel guest. When she talks to Tanya about why she likes Albie, she says, “He’s nice and smart. He went to Stanford and he’s not nonbinary.” What It isHer unique character is what bartenders hold it to.

The White LotusIt’s a comedy about horrendous, terrible people. Everyone is “agitating” and “grating” in their own way. Is it really possible to overlook the giga-chads, who behave like pervy grandpas, cheating fathers, and the college frat boys? Season 2 gives us a veritable smorgasbord of horrible men, and yet TikTok seems to be dwelling on Portia’s fashion sense and taste in men during her fling in Italy.

For those who fixate on Portia’s shortcomings, I fear this show is less a way to gawk at the absolute self-centered nature of the super rich, and more like something aspirational. The show does a great job of satirizing the elite, but many would still love to travel to Sicily and live extravagantly. It’s a mystery with a possible accidental death or murder where we get to ogle at the beautiful lives of rich people, and Portia interrupts that.