It's time to reflect at the end of the year. In popular culture, it's usually a combination of lists and essays. Smaller moments of joy are rare. There was a meme that dominated the group chat. You read the book ten times. You couldn't stop listening to the lyrics. There is a moment this year that seems to capture something real about the way it felt to be alive in 2022.
It happened in the sixth episode of The White Lotus. The character of Jack, an English charmer with a thirst for life and likely a drinking problem, has been intertwined with the character of Portia, an American personal assistant seeking adventure. They are free to sit on a bench in the port of Palermo and take in the scene because their patrons are mingling somewhere else. The children are wet. The waves lap. A blue sky is hanging over it all. A man is drinking a beverage. There is a dessert being eaten by a person.
She wants to know if you have any goals.
Jack has a good laugh. Do you know what? What are the goals?
That's right, yeah.
Some of your goals, what are you trying to accomplish?
I don't understand. She takes a break. Don't be angry. It's true. That would be great.
He thinks you have to live every day as it comes. That is what I do anyways. We don't know if we're going to be here tomorrow.
She said yes. That is very true. The world is a mess.
Jack doesn't like what he sees. What is the problem with it?
Is it a joke?
I would say that the world is pretty decent.
Everything is collapsing
At least one other character,Harper, shared a similar sentiment earlier in the season. It feels most obviously wedded to climate change fatalism, but in that simple statement, it could be referring to any number of things: fears over the erosion of democratic values in the US and abroad, the deadening effects of social media, and the possibility that when the next Pandemic She is emotional at least. It felt like everything fell apart. Jack is getting a monologue.
Do you prefer living in the Middle Ages? Yes, when they were shredding each other. They were not as bad as any of them. Everyone is left in Europe. We have been hacking each other to bits and burning each other to the ground. I want another beer.
He jumped off the bench. Music starts playing beneath him. I'm saying that we're lucky. The best time in the history of the world is right now. You're never going to be satisfied if you can't be satisfied now. He stood in front of her and appealed to her. She laughs in a way that's hard to understand. Let's start getting pissed. What do you think? She is grabbed by the hand. They leave.
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