We know there may well not be any ethical consumption under capitalism. But does Whitney? Or rather, do we think her seemingly well-intentioned decision to police who can purchase her homes—an attempt to curate the kind of community she envisions for Española—is inherently at odds with, say, Asher’s financial vision for said neighborhood?
These questions are becoming central to this entrepreneurial couple (played by Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder) in The Curse as the Flipanthropy hosts embark on an attempt to make their socially conscious endeavor square with both a need to make a dime on the land/homes they’ve bought and the drive to create an entertaining reality TV show worthy of HGTV. Needless to say, all those conflicting aims start to clash with one another. We already saw last week how incensed Whitney got at Vic when she found out he ditched his induction stove for a gas one (he just loves himself a stir fry!), and this week she grows ever more impatient with a couple who have some concerns about, among other things, the cooling system of this passive home.
It’s a valid concern, especially for someone we first see suffering under the New Mexico heat: He can barely keep his shirt dry. Is he expected to just never open the doors or windows without waiting minutes (hours, maybe) for the house to fully not really cool back to its norm? Plus, he and his wife have an in for a cheap AC unit. So what if that means the house won’t be a passive home anymore. They don’t much care for that. Whitney’s immediate tantrum about all this feels right in line with her personality. She’s more of a control freak than she’d like to think she is. And so, even as the couple plays up their interest in the house for the cameras (inadvertently talking endlessly about prisons) and voice more private concerns off camera (about the non-legally binding document that says they support the land easements in the area and the tribe, in turn), it all devolves into a screaming match that one wishes Dougie’s cameras had caught.
For this home buyer couple really doesn’t support the tribe. Or not enough to sign away a paper that would, theoretically (though not practically, Asher tries to insist, however vainly) give them the right to claim their house. As with all things, Whitney and Asher basically fumble this entire land easement issue, perhaps blindly believing everyone who’d want to buy one of their homes would be similarly politically aligned to respect the land claims of the Indigenous tribes of the area.
And so, after Whitney loses her temper and Asher does as well (“Watch your fucking language! You don’t talk to my wife like that! You fucking bitch!”), Dougie is left now with no tenants the show could follow and reality TV magic is summoned to get Flipanthropy moving. That means the show will use fictional (a.k.a. hired) stand-ins for the series who won’t actually buy the homes but will ooh and aah on camera. First up: Whitney’s BFF (in her eyes), Cara Durand (Nizhonniya Luxi Austin)—the Native American artist who relishes the chance to play a part on camera of an affluent client all too eager to talk about security in the area and come off as the NIMBY she imagines would be most open to buying one of Whitney and Asher’s home.
The entire episode is awkward. Mostly because it’s hard to tell if Cara is intentionally playing into this stereotype as a way to mock the couple or whether it’s more tongue in cheek. Is it playful jabbing or performance artistry as blunt critique? Either way, Whitney is irked by it. Not that she has time to dwell on it: She must go scouting for other “buyers.” It’s a tricky proposition: She wants to find the right kind. Attractive but approachable. The kind who’d buy houses for their mission, not just their aesthetic.
She settles on a beautiful man with long flowing locks and a woman with her baby. Only they’re not together. But she wants them to pretend to be a family on camera. Which neither want. The man wants to appear on the show with his girlfriend, a blond tattooed woman Whitney can’t warm up to. It’s another example of Whitney constantly judging books by their covers. Because the couple, once on camera, are fabulous—even if the guy takes his shot once faced with a willing audience and begins singing. (You have to admire the ballsiness, no?). Now, if only they were actual buyers.
Which is what Asher focuses on this week: They need real people (not actors) to actually buy their homes. He calls up the one potential buyer Whitney had nixed a while back and oh my god does it lead to the most meta guest star yet.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is, indeed, Dean Cain playing Mark, an interested buyer Whitney had dismissed because he sported a Blue Lives Matter flag on his car. That alone felt like enough of a red flag for Whitney but, fine, his social media posts may suggest he was more than such a banner. And when we meet him The Curse stages a scene that feels predicated on the notion that to reduce anyone to their position on a single issue is, perhaps, not the best way to assess them as people. For Mark is a mix of political and ideological contradictions; yes he supports the police force but is also adamant about land easements. His car stickers alone have him supporting WWF and boasting his snowboarding cred (“Ride on Jake”). In many ways, he’s the perfect buyer for these homes. Which we see in full force as he truly understands what Whitney was attempting to do with her passive home mission.
It’s all great news except for the way it revealed Whitney to be wrong about him. Or wrong-ish about him. And wrong-ish about wanting to be the arbiter for who they could invite into their neighborhood. Which leads to the passive aggressive standstill that will be very familiar to anyone who’s been in a longterm relationship. (Is there a more chilling line spoken by a partner than “I want what you want”?)
Will all future sales be as excruciating and button pushing? We can only hope!
Stray observations
- Whitney’s playful-yet-not-yet-kinda-joking vibe with the crew is indicative of the tone The Curse deploys all throughout: You’re made to think Whitney’s in on the joke, that she’s self-aware about her own potential Karen behavior, yet there’s always, hovering right at the edge of such a performance, the notion that this may be what she’s like really—and that maybe she has a hard time shuttling back and forth between the two. It’s why she wholly upends that same narrative when confronted with shoplifting at the store, going so far as to offer her credit card to be used when/if anything gets stolen. There’s a white guilt and white savior performance here (and a firm commitment to avoiding involving law enforcement whenever possible and an understanding that petty theft is no reason to feed into the American justice system) but also a bit of an emptiness to such gestures. The Curse wants us to straddle the line between laughing at her and with her, the way the crew guy does, making us feel uncomfortable in knowing the tide can turn at any minute. And Stone really excels at embodying Whitney’s righteousness with a twinge of self-importance that’s wrapped in self-effacement.
- “It’d be like me telling you about land issues in the Gaza Strip when I’m trying to sell you this home. One has nothing to do with the other.” This clearly rings rather different now than when it was written and performed months ago, no?
- Prisons have one of the most energy efficient waste systems. Thank you, Whitney for always having such handy tidbits to share! Also, hilarious that the prison jokes and comments kept coming and coming—much to Whitney’s own chagrin.
- In case you wanted to follow in Asher’s footsteps and up your comedy game, here’s what he learned at his workshop: Be self-deprecating (e.g., James Corden): “Your energy bill will be cheaper than my haircut” (which he almost pulls off when he utters it later in the episode); avoid race-based humor; pop culture funny (e.g., Pepsi commercial?); never try to be funny; always punch up —never down; remember the rule of 3; no politics; puns are safe. Again, there’s no comedy rule Asher can’t immediately ignore but good on him for trying!
- My favorite shot in the entire episode (which was directed by Fielder himself) is that of Whitney and Asher talking with each other as seen and shot from inside one of their neighbor’s living room. Seated at her couch with a fan blowing on her, the neighbor is indifferent to the petty drama happening right on the other side of the wall. Like much of The Curse’s aesthetic, this simple shot reminds us—like Whitney’s mirrored homes—how out of touch this well-meaning but increasingly clueless couple is about what’s really going on in Española.
Stream The Curse now on Paramount+.