Can racism take a break from Netflix travel shows?
Can racism take a break from Netflix travel shows?
What you really don’t like about ‘The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals’ is the hosts are not white
When I spotted the Netflix travel show, my first thought was, “I’m not watching the Hawaii episode.” Even on Team Moderna and with a few new clients that pulled me out of a concerning salary decline, I’m still uncomfortable with the idea of traveling. And I know I’m inching closer to the Hawaiian trip that was supposed to be planned when I turned 40. (Every five years, I’d decided to visit a Hawaiian island — Maui first, Oahu second and I was 98% positive of my third choice … until COVID-19 hit.)
I figured I’d watch a few episodes of “The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals” and then turn it off. But I definitely was not watching the one on Hawaii; it’d be the equivalent of watching my family eat my mother’s baked chicken right after I decided to go vegetarian. I don’t need that kind of jealousy in my life. I remember exactly what it was like to stroll around Maui streets and fall in love with the West Maui Mountains every time I walked out of the hotel doors. Oahu was cool, but Maui is my happy place. And I wanted to find a third one. But by the first episode, I knew I was going to watch the rest. It was too good to stop.
This Netflix travel show brings something new to the travel table
I was pleasantly surprised to see the cast of “The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals.” They didn’t look like the type of travel writers I saw while working in the Features Department.
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There was 100% chance at every newspaper and even online blogs that all the writers would be white and male, minus Jae-Ha Kim’s “Go Away With” celebrity travel blog series. (She covers a mix of celebs, including Omar J. Dorsey [Hollywood from “Queen Sugar”], my favorite comedian Chris Rock, my favorite childhood actress Kyla Pratt, talk show host Jeannie Mai and the legendary musician Yo-Yo Ma.)
Recommended Read: “If you’re not a minority, why are you so sure of your anti-racism tourism? ~ White people, please stop telling me to leave America to escape racism”
For a short time, I wrote travel blogs for one newspaper, but it focused on budget tips instead of a travel experience. I was bored and quickly moved on to editing travel feature stories instead. The in-house writers? All white, all male.
But this cast of “The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals” was made up of a Brazilian woman, a Filipino woman and a Puerto Rican man, full of personality, funny, charming, gorgeous and everyday people I’d love to travel with — minus Luis D. Ortiz’s obsession with meditating in ice cold water. He will never not ever convince me that this is a fun thing to do, although co-host Jo Franco and Megan Batoon seemed to tolerate it.
I watched every episode carefully, curiously wondering about their three choices— a budget location, a unique location and a luxury location. After the trio showed off their choices, they picked their favorite by the end. I liked to play along and pick the one I liked the most, and sometimes I’d change my mind based solely on their reaction to being there. It’s hard to not be entertained by how giddy Luis was while feeding llamas under a fancy treehouse.
I respected Jo even more for not dancing around the history of freed slaves while talking to cook/author Sallie Ann Robinson about Gullah culture. And Megan’s reaction to the Tuscan-style California vineyard made me want to shed tears with her, and I’d never been a woman who thought about destination weddings — or being married at all.
Everybody isn’t ready for a new face in a travel series
“The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals” is the kind of getaway show I needed when I know full well that I can’t travel the way I planned to five years ago, and especially not with the Delta variant and anti-vaxxers ruining it for everybody. When I finished watching both seasons, I logged into IMDB to learn more about the cast and happened to notice the show had a 6.7-star rating out of 10 total. Wait. What?
Some of the descriptors for the cast included the following:
uppity
rando’s [sic]
fake
pretentious
out of touch
juvenile
like a group of 13 year olds
cookie-cutter “influencer”
feels like you’re listening to people read a script
annoying
have no personality
dreadful
amateurish
shallow
seems like three random people got together on Craigs list [sic]
three cringy [sic] inexperienced (in hosting) children
I shook my head. As someone who usually ignores trends and refuses to just say something is dope when I don’t think it is, I get it. Be honest. I’m a Toastmaster. I’m all about the evaluations! But the level of venom in some of these comments felt — all too familiar. I know those undertones. The reason these three hosts were considered “random,” although clearly chosen for the show for being experts on travel, was more or less because the viewers didn’t know them from mainstream entertainment.
It’s the kind of vibe people had for Tiffany Haddish when she was on “Arsenio” and “Real Husbands” but suddenly disappeared after “Girl’s Trip.” It’s the way Sofia Vergara was regarded on “My Wife and Kids” but not after “Modern Family.” Or, Lucy Liu on “Ally McBeal*” but not after “Kill Bill.” Or, Rick Gonzalez on “Coach Carter” and “Illegal Tender” but not after “Arrow.” Or, twerking with 2 Live Crew instead of Miley Cyrus. You get the idea.
And the terms “uppity” and “pretentious” are making me feel a way the most. These are three minority travel experts going around the world to share history, give useful travel tips and open our minds to areas we may never even know of, and somehow they were scowled at for doing too much. (Side note: The fact that Jo didn’t let her travel dreams stop after getting shot in the back while traveling [not with the Netflix show] is a story in itself.)
Was them sharing a sentimental moment and crying while watching a waterfall “like a group of 13 year olds”? Was them admiring a builder who created a hot tub out of a plane engine something that “feels like you’re listening to people read a script”? And last I checked, the topic of freed slaves isn’t “out of touch.” Maybe Megan peeing in three cups because she was too scared to creep around at night to go to an eco-friendly outhouse was “juvenile,” but hell, if you’ve been camping before, you’ve probably done some things you wouldn’t do at home too.
These were clearly three friends who get along well together and know each other’s strengths. Megan is the cook, who wanted to prepare delicious meals at every stop — even with professional chefs around. Luis was the mental calculator, spying the value in everything and trying to break it down for those who may initially feel like they couldn’t afford this trip. Jo was the animal-loving, nature enthusiast, who seemed to fall in love with quiet places to write in her journal.
And these three balanced each other out. Did they have fun doing it? Sure. Luis was all about his skateboard and bicycle. They hopped in a few pools and took the jump-in-the-air pics that I can find in anyone’s travel album or social media page. They are young, fun and good-natured, but at no point during the 16 episodes did I feel that there needed to be a “voice-over of someone who actually has travel experience.”
Newsflash: If you’re a host of a travel show with 209 million global paid subscribers, putting foot to pavement before the show even began, planning these destinations for three distinct travel groups and able to effectively show off each location, you have travel experience.
I can’t change other people’s opinions anymore than they can change mine, and I can think of many, many times when people didn’t agree with my thoughts on an entertainer, television show or movie. But sometimes you have to pay attention to the undertones in the bad review.
If they see this trio and think Netflix would be “hard pressed to find three less likeable people on television,” my guess is I can find 30 people who are more likeable than the person who typed that. Is it that the heaviest critics don’t like the actual show — or are they just uncomfortable with seeing someone different from what they’ve been programmed to believe travel hosts should look like?
If you disagree, and you also don’t like the show, share in the comment section one minority travel host who you like better. If you can’t do both, you probably fit the bill, too.
* Although “Ally McBeal” wasn’t a predominantly black show, Regina Hall’s character and Lisa Nicole Carson’s character were considered just as hot. Two brown-skinned black women being as hot as the Asian or white ladies? Rare on mainstream TV shows.
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