I just realized that most of Helluva’s main cast are POC (Alastor is mixed race, Vaggie is Salvadoran, Nifty is half Japanese) + Nearly all the center characters are heavily implied to have had bad past/current life condition, and that Charlie, a rich white person, is painted as the ones to help them/”redeem” them. (Not exactly biologically “white” per se, but look at me in the eyes and tell me she isn’t an walking talking white chick both in appearance and personality).
While that bit thought, popped up a possibly of “White Savior” sort of situation that was pretty darn uncomfortable, but at the same time, interesting. Like, if the writers fully twists the knife and actually delve into that concept. Charlie, a very privileged aristocrat who’s the least equipped to understand, deal or even have experienced any hardship, thinking her very simplistic, ignorant ideas of rehabilitation would be clue to all sinner’s problem. Like:
“Homeless? Here’s a hotel! Just ignore the horrors trauma you seen living on the street and be expected to completely obey every one of my orders! I am very friendly! Why would you paranoid of me? I in fact do no see the trouble with how folks like me (rich/upper class demons) who is the reason you got kicked out in the first place shall be untrustworthy and unreliable!”
And with that sort of attitude, let’s say, the hotel absolutely fails miserably. Because it’s both funny and slapstick and kinda reasonable. Patronization can only go so far till it turns off people. So, with that, let’s hop down to when the narrative hits it’s absolute lowest point. Thematically an era of the story where every character/narrative/protagonist are at their lowest point. Of addictions becoming worse due to the minimum supervision, grudges igniting out of bitter entitlement and poor communication, and people like Angel and Vaggie who are in possibility of begin attacked by outsiders/dragged back by abusive figures -
Except Charlie. She, at best, is stressed. There is no permanent physical or mental harm threatening her.
Now, say, the only redemy for this is for the hotel is to release all the occupants, for them to gain distant, to rinse itself and try again with other set of people. But, despite the character’s suffering, ironically, perhaps the hotel is in it’s peak popularity. People actually keep coming due to the lax law, for the free place, perhaps something even the main cast did attracts traffic. But the original occupants: The people most important and central to Charlie’s pitch is begin seriously hurt under her terrible management.
But Charlie, the old girl here, cannot truly comprehend the gravity of it cause she never faced those type of issues. Never ever had to.
So she keeps it going on, promising and swearing that things will get better, speaking of everything in rose-tinted glasses instead of facing the harsh truth. That what matters is the hotel is becoming mainstream, more people are coming: Unintentionally, prioritzing her hotel over her friends.
In an odd way, it would actually suit her premise as the child of Lucifer.
> Promising better future, only to actively benefit from other’s suffering.
> Constantly lying, lightening the gravity of situation, making “tempting” offers and promises
> Feeding into other people’s bad habits and keeping them in harmful environments.
