'The Curse': What the Hell Goes on In Nathan Fielder's Mind?
On Nathan Fielder's recent television show (and why it's brilliant).
Author’s note: This piece may contain potential spoilers for The Curse. If you have not seen the show, continue reading at your own caution.
You probably know Nathan Fielder in some capacity, or at least the weird stuff that he’s done for publicity on Nathan For You. Whether it’s the viral video of a pig rescuing a baby goat, or “Dumb Starbucks,” to say the least, these outlandish business strategies have given us a very special brand of humour that can only be traced down to a mind like Fielder’s. But perhaps that awkward demeanour he’s most well-known for in reality television would only take another form in scripted format – which might very well be what you’re in store for in The Curse.
And I think it’s where we find ourselves looking back at the supposed “reality” that Nathan Fielder has been known for all these years in his work. But how exactly can Fielder pull it off so seamlessly? In fact, awkward comedy has always been what made Nathan Fielder’s own shows stick in the way that they do, but the degree to which he amps it up in The Curse feels like a statement based around what actually goes into the making of a seemingly perfect “reality” television show as they’re branded.
But that’s the thing about The Curse, it’s not just awkward to watch as the episodes keep going on. It’s also very actively stressful, owing to the fact that its co-creator is none other than Benny Safdie, whose work has included Uncut Gems, Good Time, or Daddy Longlegs – all of which he directed together with his brother Josh. But Benny Safdie has also established himself as a brilliant performer too, as we’d seen in films like Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. or in Oppenheimer, though his own role in here adds another layer of self-deprecation that only makes you cringe the more it goes on.
In turn, it results in a very brilliant commentary on the sort of TV shows that we knew Nathan Fielder had specialized in. If anything, it wouldn’t surprise me if The Curse were a film that’s emblematic of how Nathan Fielder feels about what reality television very much happens to be: a tool to reinforce a picture of the status quo. Everything about the “community” of Española as established by Asher and Whitney Siegel feels emblematic of this. The couple, played by series co-creator Fielder and Oscar winner Emma Stone, present the community to be the subject of a TV show called Fliplanthropy, where they pride themselves on helping people around them.
Yet that’s also another layer of brilliance felt in that aspect alone about their own philanthropy. Asher and Whitney never really feel genuine in everything that they do for the people around them, and the façade is so easy to see through in the first episode alone. Instead what makes The Curse stick the landing is knowing that this is a television show that’s built around how this brand of philanthropy is actually quite exploitative – and doesn’t actually benefit poorer people in communities that need help. And so, The Curse ends up skewering this need to overcompensate for the lower class in ways that get more erratic as the series goes on.
Perhaps the biggest hint is felt early on within the series, where Asher is aiming to give a young girl within a parking lot a $20 bill, but he only has a $100 bill on hand. Of course, it’s not good television to say no, especially when this sort of philanthropy is his brand, but the moment when Asher tries to take back the bill in order to give the same girl a proper $20 bill is where she “curses” him out of spite. That’s also what makes The Curse feel so poignant too, because it’s a show that seeks to completely eviscerate the white saviour complex that’s comfortably taken upon by richer people in order to present themselves as necessary for the survival of the everyday citizen. Things of course, are only set to pick up to more uncomfortable degrees as Barkhad Abdi enters the series as Abshir, the father of the girl who had “cursed” Asher.
In another subplot that’s vital for the series’ commentary is the story surrounding Benny Safdie’s Dougie Schecter, a friend of Asher’s who is producing their show for HGTV. While he’s working on Fliplanthropy, we’re seeing him dedicated to ensuring the best thing that the show could be, but outside of that we’re also seeing him as a bit of a mess outside of work – often spending time at casinos gambling away his money and drinking like there’s no tomorrow. But perhaps that dedication to making sure the television show is the best thing it could possibly be would also involve revising history to make everything presentable.
As many would expect, this whole brand of television philanthropy plays a big part in gentrification. That happens to be exactly what makes the supposedly “eco-friendly” houses of Asher and Whitney’s own community so confounding too, for they’re not really any different from the average working class home on the inside. But the most telling thing about them is just how garish they look on the outside, and of course, they’re also enormously expensive – which might very well be the most telling thing about the reality of the community of Española. And of course, it’s something that many viewers will continually buy into because of the nature of “reality television” always being fixed behind the scenes in some way or another.
For what it’s worth, I also find that the most clever bits of the show can be found in the way that the show gets us involved with the domestic lives of Asher and Whitney. The presence that they’re able to maintain to show who they are to audiences who will be watching their show differs vastly from their own lives, where they’re just continuously bickering with one another – and in the end of the third episode, “Questa Lane,” they angrily accuse each other of racism before heading to bed. All this comes right after trying to present themselves as “quirky” as social media trends would continually eat up people who fit that label, but I also find it’s a moment that speaks towards how social media presents such people in high esteem for something that’s so obviously being faked all throughout.
But I think that while The Curse makes usage of Nathan Fielder’s own knack for uncomfortable comedy to varying degrees, there are many stretches in here that end up making it feel like it’s transcended into another genre. Not to say it ever leaves that realm of comedy as we’ve known Fielder to take part in for so long, but it’s the sort of discomfort that makes the show feel like it’s entered the horror genre too. And many of these stretches are still funny, but they’re not quite the same sort of “laugh out loud” humour you may have remembered from Nathan for You.
Things continually get more erratic as the nature of the “curse” itself takes form. Of course, many have talked about the direction that the series turns towards in the ending, when gravity has completely reversed for Asher – with disastrous consequences for him. Everything seems like it’s gone without any sort of explanation, but I think it’s also the perfect encapsulation of what makes The Curse such a strong piece of television at that. At that point, we’re seeing ourselves within the same mental headspace that Asher and Whitney are carrying, to a point where you can’t help but feel like it only makes sense that with all the outrageous things that happen, this is the best way to go about. It’s a moment that calls back to the befuddling finale of Twin Peaks: The Return, in some bizarre sense, as it speaks towards how supposed “reality TV stars” are untouchable figures akin to gods.
Yet even leading up to that moment, we’re shown how Asher pieces together that even though Nala’s curse might have only been part of a social media trend, Dougie has concocted his own curse through the inclusion of said footage. At the very end of episode 9, “Young Hearts,” the footage of the incident between Asher and Nala from the first episode comes right back into play and he’s started to realize that there might indeed be a curse, but from a different source. And it’s only the fitting sort of comeuppance for Asher and Whitney in that moment, considering everything that they actually stand for.
Regardless, the way that it all comes together is only bound to befuddle most viewers – though it’s fascinating in a way that keeps you watching. It doesn’t always work, because there are occasional stretches that ultimately feel like filler. Yet the very things that The Curse is examining, whether they be the exploitation of the underprivileged and the artifice of reality television, only make this all so brilliant. It’s a show that I think feels like a forewarning about how fame can corrupt the rich, but also how the maintaining of such an artifice can end up distorting your own perception of reality. There are many things you can take away from that final episode, but regardless of whether you love it or hate it, you can’t deny it will keep you talking for a long while.