The White Lotus is the first great post-‘woke’ piece of art
Mike White’s show wears its morality lightly, canvassing the last remaining taboos and putting them all on-screen, with a luxury hotel or a superyacht as the backdrop.
A four-minute monologue by Sam Rockwell’s Frank (left) to Walton Goggins’ Rick proves “The White Lotus” is willing to go to places that other shows won’t.
Mike White is not just the writer of The White Lotus. He is also its creator, director and executive producer, and I’m surprised that he doesn’t do the catering and animal handling, too. This unusual level of control makes The White Lotus the polar opposite of, say, the Marvel films, which feel like they’re written by one committee, edited by another, and marketed by a third.
And what has White done with his unusual level of creative control? He has made the first great work of art in the post-“woke” era. He treats his characters as individuals, rather than stand-ins for their identity groups – and he insists on plot points that would unnerve a sensitivity reader.
