Mike White Admits He’s Frustrated By ‘White Lotus’ Fans’ Complaints
For one week, guests take a break from the troubles of their day-to-day life in a high-end resort. However, can they truly relax? Everything that has been boiling in their lives reaches never-before-seen levels, and the vacation ends in a murder or two. That has always been what The White Lotus is about. The hit HBO show returned for a Thailand-set third season, which sent it to a different level of popularity as more viewers engaged with it. However, those engagements have not always been positive, and creator/writer/director Mike White is over it. “There was complaining about how there’s no plot,” White said in the show’s official podcast.”That part I find weird,” he admitted. “The pacing and the vibe… it definitely gets under their skin,” he added, but clapped back on those calling the show slow and plotless, saying:
“Part of me is just like, ‘Bro, this is the vibe. I’m world-building. If you don’t want to go to bed with me then get out of my bed. I’m edging you! Enjoy the edging. If you don’t want to be edged, then get out of my bed.’ Do you know what I mean? Don’t be a bossy bottom. Get the fuck out of my bed. Don’t come home with me. Don’t get naked in my bed. Get the fuck out of my bed. Obviously something is going to happen.”
People Are Meaner to ‘The White Lotus’ Now, Says Mike White
The success the show has achieved rarely happens to most shows, but with this success comes more criticism. “They’re criticizing the show in certain ways, and they’re meaner in certain ways,” White said on The Howard Stern Show. “I’m used to being this underdog indie writer that people are championing. Certain things will hurt my feelings, or I’ll feel misunderstood. The mean ones have gotten meaner. It’s like they don’t like me. I guess I need to either avoid that stuff or get tougher, because it does bum me out,” he continued. Bummed as he may be, White is looking ahead. “We are renegotiating [Season 4 contracts] right now, I’m definitely curious to find out what that [amount] is,” he said. White also mused about the potential effect earning more money could have on him. Will it make him more like the characters he writes? He asked, “Is having more money just going to make me more dysfunctional?”
All seasons of The White Lotus are available to stream on Max.
- Release Date
-
2021 – 2024
- Network
-
HBO
- Showrunner
-
Mike White
- Directors
-
Mike White
- Writers
-
Mike White
Sources: Spotify, The Hollywood Reporter
