Mike White is known for his “oddball character studies,” and his most recent franchise, “The White Lotus,” has them in spades. The show is “both a social satire and a murder mystery” and White promises the latest outing—set in Thailand—will be an even darker affair. Kelefa Sanneh explores White’s career, and his “rather perverse sensibility” in this detailed profile. It will leave you longing for the next White Lotus stay.
White now owns two houses on Kauai. Compared with the tourists, he is a local, but compared with the natives he is a wealthy interloper, not entirely different from the “White Lotus” characters he satirized. “Unless I feel somehow personally indicted, it doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything that bold,” he told me. “I have to take these people seriously enough that it isn’t just a satire.” One of Kauai’s most famous part-time residents, Mark Zuckerberg, reportedly owns more than a thousand acres of beachfront property, including an underground bunker. But the difference between his compound and White’s modest pair of houses is merely one of scale. “I can make fun of Mark Zuckerberg—but I am also that person,” White says.
More picks on television creations
The Banal Horror of Jimmy Fallon
“Under the sterile blue lights of his studio, Fallon laughs endlessly at the same pseudo-jokes, rubs elbows with Trump and Sam Altman, and ushers in the death of culture.”
Who Is Black Comedy For?
“A new book is nostalgic for the ’90s. But the era of crossover success was not necessarily the pinnacle of Black comedic achievement.”
It’s the Music You Hear All Day, Without Ever Noticing
“Sync music” has become the soundtrack to our lives — whether we realize it or not.
Everyone Is Stealing TV
“Fed up with increasing subscription prices, viewers embrace rogue streaming boxes.”
An Experience for Me
“On Nathan Fielder and the rise of auto-performance.”
Hollywood Has Left L.A.
“For years, studios found it cheaper to shoot elsewhere. Post-industry-collapse, elsewhere is the only place they’ll shoot.”
