The Mossbacher Family: Representations of the Mind, Body, and Soul in the White Lotus
Mike White’s HBO dramedy, The White Lotus, has been my television hyper fixation for the past two months. The show is a 6 episode narrative set in a Hawaiian resort following the lives of guests and hotel employees. While technically, there is no real “point” to this series, Mike White’s incredibly sharp writing, excellent character arcs, and beautiful cinematography make this biting social satire absolutely addictive. If one thing is clear about the mind of White after viewing, he understands how to write characters who are simultaneously hilarious, unhinged, and cataclysmic. To summarize in a sentence, The White Lotus is a caricature of the putrid nucleus of social class in modern-day America.
This show mocks the American caste system by using well-known allegories in contemporary ways. One of the most fascinating ways that White depicts these class struggles is through the Mossbacher Family, the affluent vacationing bunch who believes that the class system they live in isn’t real when they are actually the epitome of wealth privilege. Throughout the show, the family makes comments on political and social hot topics like white entitlement, male privilege, and modern-day colonialism. What’s so brilliant about the writing of this show is that Mike White displays the ignorance of the Mossbacher Family through the Mind-Body-Soul connection. Olivia represents the Mind, Nicole and Mark represent the body, and Quinn represents the soul.
The Mind-Body-Soul connection chronicles the three constantly intertwined aspects of oneself. This connection is often used as a way to find inner peace. The Mossbachers believe that they understand how society works from a highly sophisticated and almost spiritual point of view, the genius satire playing on that truthfully, they have no idea how society works. Their “holier-than-thou” attitude comes from the deep-rooted privilege that prosperous whites have had since the birth of the United States. The Mind-Body-Soul connection is a way to connect and heal through rituals; each of the family members practices their “spirituality” in different ways.
Olivia Mossbacher, brilliantly portrayed by Sydney Sweeney, represents the Mind. The mind oneself deals with the conscious and the subconscious. Conscious attributes are reasoning, thinking, and choices, and subconscious attributes are emotions, attitudes, and beliefs. Throughout the show, Olivia is constantly shown reading books with her friend Paula by the pool. While from the outside, the two appear to be educating themselves and opening their worldview, they are actually observing and judging the other hotel guests. Paula proves to be a point of competition and jealousy for Olivia. Yet interestingly, throughout the show, we also see Olivia deeply seek Paula’s approval on her political and social opinions. Part of this desire for Paula’s approval may be because Paula is a person of color, and as a typical Gen Zer, Olivia fears being called racist. Olivia constantly argues with her parents in front of Paula on their opinions on various topics in a selfish attempt to seem “woke.” While Olivia believes her opinions make her more cosmopolitan than her elders, her desperate need for Paula's compliance proves that these broad issues of injustice she frequently speaks on don’t actually mean anything to her; she just doesn’t want to feel alienated from her generation’s culture.
Nicole and Mark Mossbacher represent the body. Finding inner peace within one's body is the external facet of the Mind-Body-Soul connection. The Body connection regarding nerves, organs, bodily systems, bones, and overall physical well-being. Mark’s health is a huge concern for him at the beginning of the show. Yet upon discovering he is cancer free, the reliving news sends him on a contemplative bender. Mark decides he wants to get to know his son Quinn by taking scuba classes. Mark strongly believes that by learning to scuba dive, he is using his healthy body to its fullest extent. But the reality is selfish; he is not doing these activities to better his health or connect with Quinn. After learning that his closeted father died of AIDS, Mark is attempting to recreate his boyhood by playing the role of his revered father. While on a lesser scale than Mark, Nicole Mossbacher also shows signs of struggles with inner peace with her body. She is constantly shown trying to improve her physical appearance, one of the funniest scenes in the show being when she is frantically rearranging the hotel room preparing for a zoom meeting. All her primping throughout seems shallow at first, but after learning that Mark cheated on her, we realize that she is clearly not at peace with her palpable self. The couple is sexually stunted, and it takes Mark physically protecting Nicole from a robbery for their physical connection to be reignited. Nicole’s grapples with her body are a clear reflection of not feeling wanted by her partner.
The Soul is represented by Quinn Mossbacher, who has one of the most developed character arcs out of all the characters. Part of the beauty of The White Lotus is that nothing changes for the Mossbachers when they leave Hawaii, which is the gripping play-by-play of the show. Most cinematic narratives tell the story of how events change characters; their goals and values have evolved by the finale for better or for worse. But at the end of The White Lotus, Olivia, Nicole, Mark, and even Paula are relatively in the same position they began in; this is to demonstrate how deep the class system is rooted in American society. But Quinn’s arc shows that he may be the only character who grew from his week at the resort. When Quinn lost access to all his technology, he was forced to work on finding other forms of entertainment, which ended in him practicing the Soul connection. One’s soul is an attribute of oneself that deals with enlightenment, spiritual wellness, creativity, and passion. Quinn took his time on the island and bettered himself; he appreciated the beautiful world around him and actually practiced cultural appreciation. The cinematography includes gorgeous b-roll shots of luxurious oceans, sunsets, and nature, and it feels like we are watching the show through the eyes of Quinn, who has never seen our planet like this before. As I mentioned previously, the sad truth of the show is that the social status of the Mossbacher Family does not change, but I believe that Quinn’s character arc is a delightful change of pace.
