Bling Empire, The White Tiger, and feeling the meme bern

Crazy rich and crazy poor Asians, plus culture notes about the lifecycle of the year's first mega meme

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Jan 26, 2021

Hello!

On this week’s episode of Criticism Is Dead, we discuss Bling Empire, a reality TV show about having everything, and The White Tiger, a film about having nothing and wanting everything.

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01:49 Bling Empire, Netflix’s latest glossy smooth-brain content, is, disappointingly, neither particularly crazy rich nor particularly Asian.

(First off, shout out to listener char for suggesting we talk about reality TV! Fun fact, one of our early unreleased pilot episodes covered fave Selling Sunset!!! Maybe we’ll talk about it on a real record someday.)

Bling Empire is to Crazy Rich Asians what Laguna Beach is to The OC and what Real Housewives is to Desperate Housewives. So what does this model of reality shows based on popular scripted TV/films look like through an Asian American lens?

Not much, unfortunately! Disappointingly, even for trash TV, it’s not great trash. The biggest problem is that it doesn’t feel like there’s a real reason that these people are together: they’re not coworkers, most of them aren’t really believable friends or even frenemies, there’s nothing connecting them beyond their wealth and their claimed representation of “Asian culture.”

And speaking of that — there’s not much that even highlights the “Asian” aspect. Lavish parties? Hiring shamans and mediums for overpriced spiritual stuff? Drinking boba? Tell me that’s different from any random white LA influencer. (Actually, maybe that says something more about contemporary “Asian American”-ness than it intends.)

If you’re looking for a show to zone out on, sure, go ahead and watch Bling Empire. But don’t expect much.

18:08 The White Tiger, also new on Netflix, is about what it takes to become a “have” in a cruel system of haves and have-nots.

Let me get this out of the way: You should watch The White Tiger.

A response to Slumdog Millionaire’s exoticizing fairytale, The White Tiger is soundly rooted in the relentless brutality of capitalism and class disparity. (Sound familiar? Parasite heads, this one’s especially for you.)

One of the most skillful depictions is that of the alternating benevolence and condescension of the ruling class — especially those hypocritically consider themselves more liberal, modern, and kind — represented here by protagonist Balram’s (Adarsh Gourav) employer Ashok (Rajkummar Rao) and Ashok’s wife Pinky (Priyanka Chopra Jonas).

“Do we loathe our masters behind a façade of love, or do we love them behind a façade of loathing?” Balram muses at one point, illustrating the complex relationship between servant and master. The answer isn’t clear, even after Balram makes the decision to do whatever it takes to game the corrupt system — including fulfilling his dream of becoming his master.

This film is a dark, thrilling, at times delightful ride. You’ll leave it feeling both astonished and cynical, heavy with the weight of the world.