With ‘The White Lotus,’ Mike White helped turn prestige TV into the ultimate queer destination
The White Lotus, an anthology series that continues to be the only thing anyone wants to talk about.Apart from a few choice roles (including his 2011 series Enlightened, which he co-created with star Laura Dern), White has been the man behind the camera, writing such diverse and varied works as the 2003 Jack Black vehicle School of Rock, 2017’s Beatriz at Dinner, and a handful of Dawson’s Creek episodes in the ’90s.
He’s even done his time in the Survivor circuit: in 2018, he achieved runner-up status on the show’s 37th season.Mike White on Survivor is such a vibe. #mikewhite #survivor #davidvsgoliath #whitelotus #soylatte #CapCut But nothing could have predicted, or compared to, White’s hysterical, pitch-perfect comedy of manners, The White Lotus, a series in which assorted far-too-rich guests wine, dine, and possibly get murdered in glamorous locales, all while providing incredible meme fodder.
Season one, set on Hawaii’s big island, gave us the Murray Bartlett/Lukas Gage rimjob scene that no one could forget. Season two, which brought a new cast of characters to a White Lotus on the sunlit coast of Taormina, Italy, gave us even more.
We got Aubrey Plaza as the sexually frustrated wife of a tech bro explaining in deadpan that she doesn’t watch Ted Lasso. We got Jennifer Coolidge—the main character holdover from season one—proclaiming “these gays…they’re trying to murder me!” And that’s not even touching on what The White Lotus theme song has done for the club, and the culture.Anyone else?
