THB #675: The White Lotus, Season 3

The new season of The White Lotus takes us somewhere new in the Mike White Cinematic Universe… to less.

For those of you who only know White from The White Lotus (or only think you do… he has a lot of credits for things you have likely seen but don’t realize he wrote), the journey started for me a quarter century ago with Chuck & Buck, which was shocking for its time. Mike wrote the film about a 30-year-old man who still has a passion for his childhood best friend with whom, we find out, he had his early explorations of sexuality. Thus the film’s most infamous line, “Chuck & Buck, Suck & Fuck!”

Miquel Arteta directed, accelerating a budding directing career that had started with Star Maps. White co-starred with Chris Weitz, who was a young writer and director who was about to break out with About A Boy. Lupe Ontiveros was celebrated for her performance and reignited her career with the film. And the film’s producer is now the head of Searchlight, Matthew Greenfield (whose sister is the…