For two award-winning seasons, The White Lotus has followed two different groups of problematically wealthy travelers to Hawaii and Sicily, respectively. Each plotline creatively showcases the unique personalities of each character through interactions with hotel staff, other resort guests, and their own traveling partner(s). The seasons begin with a mysterious death in the first scenes and follow with flashbacks to the weeks prior. This method of sequence combined with the carefully-curated suspenseful music playing in the background characterize The White Lotus as a dark comedy.
Since its initial release in 2021, The White Lotus has gained an immense amount of popularity in households across America. Its intriguing and mysterious plotline combined with its perfectly-casted characters keep viewers wanting more. After a shocking end to the second season, The White Lotus has been renewed for a third--satisfying the insatiable cravings of its watchers. Behind the incredible success of the show is writer, actor, director, and producer Mike White.
Mike White, born Michael Christopher White, has an extensive list of experience in the entertainment industry. After being involved in the writing of movies like School of Rock, Nacho Libre, and Chuck & Buck, White went on to create, produce, write, direct, and act in Enlightened, an HBO series. In addition to White's production roles, he participated in two seasons of The Amazing Race and won second place on Survivor.
Growing up, White stated that he "had a lot of free time." To fill up this time, White would read and play without the constraints of a schedule. The time that White spent exploring allowed him to develop his imaginative side, which his parents were in strong support of. As a child, White knew that he would have a career in the arts at some point in the future. At the early age of 7, White began to write out his own mini plays for his second-grade teacher--the mother of American playwright, Sam Shepard. White felt inspired by the work of Shepard and would perform his mini plays in his neighborhood. During his college years, White embraced his love of playwriting and began to write full-length plays.
Speaking about his techniques for writing shows, White said that he is "all the characters" with scripting dialogues. He feels that acting and writing are two very separate creative processes, as acting confines you to one role and writing allows you to become all the roles. White noted that his creative process consists mostly of brainstorming and less of actual writing. He only begin the writing process once the characters and storyline are completely set. This technique allows for White to write smoothly and avoid running into any breaks of creative flow.
White's creative process exemplifies that of the Geneplore model. His brainstorming can be compared to the "generation of preinventive structures" in the model. From the process of brainstorming, White can then take part in the "preinventive exploration and interpretation" step through the process of writing and bringing his ideas to life. If White feels that he does not have enough substance to write about, he goes back to the generative phase and the cycle proceeds.
The White Lotus, according to White, was largely influenced by his experience as a contestant on Survivor. One of the most prominent aspects of The White Lotus is the uniquely-suspenseful music that plays throughout the episodes. White adopted this clever idea from Survivor. Another strong influence on The White Lotus is the media that White consumed during his youth. Growing up watching Fantasy Island and Love Boat, White wanted to capture the essence of these shows in The White Lotus. Speaking with regards to the second season of The White Lotus, White took inspiration in Laverne & Shirley when crafting the characters of Lucia and Mia--two business-savvy Italian prostitutes.
I didn't realize White also helped write "School of Rock." I also think the costuming in White Lotus is worth mentioning, I love how they dress the characters.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that White uses his experience on the show Survivor to help write the White Lotus is an intriguing concept. The White Lotus does have a lot of uncertainty and suspense that is very well established. The idea of using suspenseful music inspired by his time on another show is very smart. This reminds me a little bit of the idea of the collective thinking style because White is combining all past knowledge to help him create a new and well respected piece of media.
ReplyDelete