The White Lotus Effect
TAAD’s creative team wants to introduce a new article where we describe the global phenomena of culture, cinema, and design. Our goal is to awaken the curiosity of cultural gourmands and let them taste carefully selected snobbish art cousine.
Let’s start with a piece of television media art – HBO television project, satirical drama series “The White Lotus”, created by an American writer, actor, producer, and director for television and film – Mike White. The story follows obnoxious, manipulative guests and employees of the fictional tropical resort chain called “The White Lotus”. During the fictional week-long vacation, unexpected adventures occur, which may not all end happily. The series received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for the American Film Institute’s list of the top ten programs of 2021 and 2022, and won various awards, including 10 Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes.
But not only the critics determine the success of the TV series. “The White Lotus” has become especially popular among the audience of Gen-z and Millenials, whose travel goals have been dictated by this series. This is how a new term was born in the media – the White Lotus effect, which basically means planning holiday trips based on streaming projects on TV platforms.
According to American Express’ 2023 Global Travel Trends Report, more and more people are using their favorite shows as personal travel agents. 64 percent of travelers said they planned trips or were inspired to visit a specific country or destination after it being featured in a TV show, news source or a movie.
The first season of “The White Lotus” was filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Maui in Vailea, Hawaii. The hotel Has seen a tremendous increase in web traffic, increasing 425 percent year-over-year. The second season was filmed at the Four Seasons hotel in San Domenico Palace in Sicily, and the similar phenomenon occurred here – the number of bookings was record high resulting in the rise of reservation prices to unprecedented heights. Based on a survey conducted by the luxury travel company “Little Emperors”, there has been a significant increase in the number of holiday bookings across the island of Sicily. The HBO drama series is moving to Thailand, according to a March report by Variety, so travel agencies are already preparing for large flows of bookings there.
We tried to deconstruct what elements of the series tempt us to visit the beautiful resorts of “The White Lotus”. At this point, we want to highlight those who created the iconic luxury on the set.The first season’s production designer, Laura Fox, created the catalog’s dreamy, luxurious interiors at the titular five-star Hawaiian resort.
The second season’s production designer Cristina Onori listened to the flamboyant spirit of the Sicily island and created an enchanting atmosphere of a Mediterranean hotel, which hides authentic works of art that speak of the rich local history and culture. Here you will notice Traditional Sicilian Moro Heads, called “Testa di Moro” in Italian. The hand-painted ceramic faces embody the legend of a Moorish man who fell in love with a local woman and was beheaded when she discovered he had a wife at home. This movie prop became a hint to the audience that there may be consequences for irresponsible nights spent in the hotel. As for movie props, there is certainly no shortage of them in this HBO satire, it is important to emphasize that during the plot each character picks up a book that reveals the character and his relationship with the environment. As you watch each episode, new books can be discovered that allow you to get to know more and more layers of the characters.
“The White Lotus” series is one of the good television examples of how the creators become social trendsetters. The audience of this project can get acquainted with literature, works of art, cultural heritage and other cultural phenomena that positively affect the viewers. Media platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram allows to expand the reach of the audience and make good quality content even more accessible.
Nowadays, curiosity is a rare feeling that requires sacrifice, love and dedication to art, and when the creator manages to intrigue the spectator, something magical happens. “The White Lotus” is full of such magic and is worth dedicating evenings for rewarding binge-watching.
Text author: Linas Jurevičius
