"White Lotus" Creator Talks About The "Autogynephilia" Monologue And Removes Nonbinary Plot From Series
Redditors are upset that Mike White reportedly removed a nonbinary character and recently appeared on a podcast with Andrew Sullivan, where he seemingly confirmed the monologue was about autogynephilia.
In a surprise cameo on season 3 of the White Lotus, Sam Rockwell plays Frank, a sex-addicted American who drops a monologue so controversial it practically set social media on fire. Frank's monologue is believed to describe autogynephilia, a man's propensity to be aroused by the idea of being a woman.
In a hilarious, chamomile tea-fueled rant, Frank revealed that he wanted to be an Asian girl. He realized that his attraction to womanhood isn’t about identity at all, but about arousal. He describes being turned on by the idea of himself as a woman.
On a recent podcast, series creator Mike White was asked about the origins of Rockwell’s character and that now-infamous monologue. “Well, you know this—you know again, I’m hitting this theme a lot, but like you know, the show this season is using these Buddhist concepts to talk about identity. This idea of desire—where does it come from?” White explained. He went on to break down the complexities of attraction, identity, and the contradictions inherent in desire, musing, “I do think that like, you know, some of the yeah—you talk about auto-gyneophilic or....there’s a—each person has their own version of this.”
As expected, reactions have been polarized. Some hailed the monologue as an overdue acknowledgment of a reality long ignored, while others were furious that such a topic was even entertained on a major television show. “Any instinct that I have to find a charitable interpretation—him not understanding the depths of the theory, him not explicitly accepting the framing as his own belief, him being stupid—is hard to follow considering the original stain of this discussion happening on a podcast from Andrew f*cking Sullivan. Gross! This sucks!” wrote @c1rcumvrent on Reddit.
Meanwhile, others lamented that The White Lotus might not be able to escape the backlash: “Damn we really can’t have anything nice,” wrote @classic-carpet7609.
Reports have surfaced that White also cut a nonbinary storyline from this season. Actress Carrie Coon, who plays Laurie Duffy, revealed in an interview that her character’s daughter was originally written as nonbinary and used they/them pronouns. “You see Laurie struggling to explain it to her friends, struggling to use they/them pronouns, struggling with the language, which was all interesting,” she told Harper’s Bazaar.
While no official explanation has been given for why this plotline was removed, critics see it as yet another signal that The White Lotus is stepping away from inclusive narratives. Is Hollywood finally moving in a new direction?
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