The White Lotus’s Mike White Says He Wanted to Make “Gay Sex Transgressive Again” – Them
Spoiler alert: This article contains details from White Lotus Season 2, Episode 5.
In one of The White Lotus Season 1’s most memorable moments, petulant vacationer Shane (Jake Lacy) demands to regale hotel manager Armand (Murray Bartlett) with petty complaints about his suite… only to walk in on him eating his employee Dillon’s (Lukas Gage) ass at that exact moment. Yet somehow, that surprise gay sex scene pales in comparison to the plot twist viewers just witnessed in Season 2.
This year, The White Lotus moved its squabbling rich tourist satire from Maui, Hawaii to Sicily, Italy. In the most recent episode, “That’s Amore,” Tanya (Emmy winner Jennifer Coolidge) walks in on British millionaire Quentin (Tom Hollander) having sex with dreamboat Jack (Leo Woodall) who we’ve been led to believe is his … nephew?! I know we’re fresh out of House of the Dragon season, but come on, people!
Speaking to Variety about the scene, bisexual creator and showrunner Mike White admitted that “there’s a pleasure” in making “gay sex transgressive again.”
“It’s dirty… men are having sex and you have this Psycho music underneath. It just amuses me,” White said. “I just think transgressive sex is sexier. I guess I’m old school. There’s this Gothic vibe of walking through a haunted hotel or haunted house and people are having sex behind closed doors.”
Although White coyly added that fans will have to “wait and see” if Jack is really Quentin’s nephew, Richardson hinted in a recent interview with Insider that the two men’s relationship might not be “what it seems.”
“From Portia’s perspective, it’s a very extreme example of how you can’t really rely on this external excitement or male-centered validation,” she added. “Because he’s going to end up fucking his uncle.”
The twist is oddly fitting for a season that’s spent plenty of time exploring how sex and class messily intersect. Perhaps Jack is a sex worker accompanying Quentin and his friends to the hotel, much like local sex workers Mia (Beatrice Grannò) and Lucia (Simona Tabasco) have become intimately involved with the tension surrounding Albie and his father. Whatever the case may be, The White Lotus fans are in for a wild final two episodes.
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